Back to One
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Back to One, Episode 103: Haley Bennett
Haley Bennett has given us some great work in films like The Woman On The Train and The Magnificent Seven, but her performance in Carlo Mirabella-Davis’s Swallow is so fully-realized, so ground-shaking, so important, it feels like an artistic re-birth. In this half-hour, she talks about facing the doubts and fears she had with revealing herself in the role of Hunter, the importance of the fruitful and freeing collaboration process with Mirabella-Davis, and how this truly emancipating experience changed her approach to the work. Plus much more! Back To One can be found wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Mar 13, 2020 -
Back to One, Episode 102: Skylar Astin
He got his big Hollywood break with Pitch Perfect, but Skylar Astin had already made it to Broadway in the musical sensation Spring Awakening. Lately, it seems he’s been in every television show that features people breaking into song — Glee, My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and now the NBC hit Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, where he plays Max, Zoey’s best friend, who is secretly in love with her. On this episode, he talks about the hard work that goes into making that show, being bribed into his first audition as a kid, and how his stage experience continues to pay dividends in […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Mar 12, 2020 -
Back to One, Episode 101: Zach Woods
I remember when I first saw Zach Woods. It was in the Armando Iannucci film In The Loop. His comedic sensibilities matched so perfectly with what I demanded as a consumer of comedy—bold choices, molded in subtlety, grounded in reality. He has continued to morph and advance his style with unforgettable roles on The Office, Silicon Valley, and now again for Iannucci on Avenue 5, where he plays cheerful nihilist Matt Spencer, Head of Customer Relations. In this inspirational episode, we have a far-reaching conversation on his approach to the craft and the industry in general. Summary: the greatest comedic […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Mar 11, 2020 -
Back to One, Episode 100: Andrea Riseborough
It’s time we stop taking the preternaturally gifted British actor Andrea Riseborough for granted. She transforms so completely into her characters (appearance, accent, posture, mannerisms) that it’s easy to just believe she is the character and hard to measure her talents because we don’t know what “default Andrea Riseborough” is like. One thing is crystal clear though. She’s simply one of the best we have. On this, the 100th episode of Back To One, she talks about being surprised by the reactions to her chameleon-like abilities, how she uses the shooting environment (no matter how difficult) to fuel her work, […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Mar 10, 2020 -
Back to One, Episode 99: Lesley Manville
The brilliant British actor Lesley Manville has given us two of the truly great cinematic performances of the last decade, Mary in Another Year and Cyril in Phantom Thread (which landed her an Oscar nomination). But those are just two in a long list of living, breathing characters she has inhabited with subtlety, nuance and depth, both on the stage and screen. In this episode, she talks about her latest–Joan in Ordinary Love, her formative years with Mike Leigh, the necessity of director input, why she doesn’t want to take her characters home, and much more! Back To One can be […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Mar 3, 2020 -
Back to One, Episode 98: Zora Howard
Zora Howard is a juggernaut. She stars in Premature and co-wrote the script with director Rashaad Ernesto Green. Her performance has an assured authenticity and a new brand of quiet desperation that is remarkable for a first feature. She’s been an award-winning creator for years though. Plays, poems, spoken word performances. Her play Stew just closed off-broadway to great acclaim. I gush about it and ask where her love of words began, and which of these various paths of creation she’s anxious to continue down. She talks about the necessary step of taking off the writer’s hat in order to […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Feb 25, 2020 -
Back to One, Episode 97: Zoey Deutch
Acting wunderkind Zoey Deutch returns to the podcast on the occasion of the release of Buffaloed, the raucous indie she stars in (and produced) where she gets to flex her high octane comedy chops. We get into the weeds discussing comedy performance, she talks about striving to make her characters relatable, and about her love for auditioning (despite the hiccups). I delicately ask her what makes up the bulk of her now legendary script binder and she graciously explains. Plus much much more! Back To One can be found wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Feb 18, 2020 -
Back to One, Episode 96: Richard Rankin
Scottish actor Richard Rankin plays Roger Mackenzie Wakefield on the Starz hit series Outlander (Season 5 premieres on Sunday, February 16th). On this episode, he talks about the process of stepping back into playing Roger after being on hiatus. We have a very clinical discussion about sex scenes, chemistry, and the importance of genuine depth in on-screen romance. I ask if he’s looking for roles where he can use his American accent. A listener question leads to a discussion about the effects of time travel. Plus he (very objectively) talks about why he’s the reason season 5 of Outlander is […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Feb 11, 2020 -
Back to One, Episode 95: Portrait of a Lady on Fire Special Episode
This is a very special episode of Back To One. Last year, in September, I sat down with the stars of Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel, and their director, Céline Sciamma. On this show, I only sit down with one actor every week, so for me to sit with two actors and their director from the same film, it must be very special. And it is a very special film. For me, it is the purest example, in recent memory, of a perfect synthesis of direction and performance. The exemplary work of these three […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Feb 4, 2020 -
Back to One, Episode 94: Deirdre O’Connell
Deirdre O’Connell is a legend of the New York stage and brings true depth and authenticity to every moment she has in front of the camera, but make no mistake, she doesn’t have this “down” yet. In this hour, she talks about why she likes to travel to the place her character resides and why it’s important that she believes her character is smarter than her. I ask about her incredible performance in Diane, one scene in particular, and how on earth she’s able to lip sync every single line in the brand new production Dana H at the Vineyard […]
by Peter Rinaldi on Jan 29, 2020
