Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

• The Stories of Actor Josh Brolin (‘Weapons’)

  With the arrival of Weapons in theaters, we return to our conversation with actor Josh Brolin. Since the turn of the century, Brolin has had quite a run. From No Country for Old Men and Hail, Caesar! from the Coen Brothers, to Inherent Vice from Paul Thomas Anderson, to Sicario and the Dune films from Denis Villeneuve. His memoir, From Under the Truck, contains stories about the life in between. We discuss his upbringing bouncing from Paso Robles to Santa Barbara (8:49), the influence of his mother (10:05), and his entry to writing (19:40). Then, Brolin reflects on his vivid early adulthood in the 80s (26:14), the power of a story (32:30), and what actor Anthony Hopkins illuminated about sobriety (34:35). On the back-half, we get into his collaborations with the Coen Brothers (38:48), his challenging relationship to drinking (50:50), and why finally, after three decades of playing characters on screen, it was time to fill in some of the backstory (1:07:13). This conversation was recorded at Spotify Studios. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• Actor Julia Garner is Hollywood’s Secret ‘Weapon’

  Actor Julia Garner (Ozark) has built a career out of shapeshifting. This summer, the Emmy-winning performer lands on the silver (surfer) screen with two major projects—The Fantastic Four: First Steps and the highly-anticipated horror film, Weapons. At the top, we walk through the spine-tingling world of Zach Cregger’s new film (6:45), the Moleskine character journals she keeps for each role (9:22), and some lessons from her time in clown school (14:01). Then, she reflects on her ‘Noah Baumbach-like’ upbringing (22:27) and the influence of legendary actors Bette Davis, Gena Rowlands, and Sharon Stone (23:15), who she credits for opening the doors in Hollywood that she has walked through (23:50). On the back-half, Garner describes her transformative years making Ozark (30:03), the whirlwind three-week prep period to portray Anna Delvey in Inventing Anna (35:59), her comfort with discomfort (43:05), and how she remains open to growth in this next chapter (44:17). Watch this conversation on our new YouTube channel. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• David Mamet Exits Stage Left

  David Mamet is one of the most celebrated American playwrights of the last century: Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Speed-the-Plow, American Buffalo, and Glengarry Glen Ross— which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1983 and remains timely today. Our conversation unfolds, fittingly, in three acts. Act I: the inspiration behind his new novel about education, Some Recollections of St. Ives (5:38), weathering the ‘emotional hurricane’ of his childhood in Chicago (18:22), and how the drama of those early years materialized in his 1994 play The Cryptogram and beyond (27:00). In Act II, Mamet talks writing dialogue for the stage and screen (29:16), his disdain for psychoanalysis and the Actors Studio (32:32), and the philosophy that guided both his first theatre company (33:24) and subsequent plays (38:01). In the closing act, we wrestle with Mamet’s rightward shift: his views on DEI (41:48), late-stage capitalism (51:33), ‘Constitutional Conservatism’ as it relates to the 2020 election (1:01:48), his latest book The Disenlightenment: Politics, Horror, and Entertainment (1:07:06), and what he believes a ‘peaceful and patriotic’ protest should look like (1:10:12). Watch this conversation on our new YouTube channel. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• Director Celine Song on ‘Materialists’ (Death, Sex & Money)

  Long before Celine Song was nominated for an Academy Award for her feature directorial debut, Past Lives, she was a struggling playwright in New York City with an unusual side hustle: matchmaking. In this special episode presented by Death, Sex & Money, host Anna Sale sits with Celine to unpack how this personal experience inspired the plot of her new A24 movie, Materialists, starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal. Follow and listen to Death, Sex & Money wherever you get your podcasts. Thoughts or future episode ideas? Email us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• Actor Patricia Clarkson (‘Sharp Objects’) Goes Her Own Way

  After nearly four decades of working in Hollywood, actor Patricia Clarkson (The Station Agent, Pieces of April) says her portrayal of women’s rights activist Lilly Ledbetter is “the greatest privilege” in her storied career. We sat with the legendary actress as part of this year’s Aspen Ideas Festival to discuss her powerful turn in Lilly (4:10), her colorful New Orleans upbringing (10:17), and the educator who first recognized Patricia’s talent (13:25). Then, she reflects on her life-changing move from Louisiana to New York City (18:40), years of training at the Yale School of Drama (22:08), and her early film roles opposite Kevin Costner in The Untouchables and Clint Eastwood in The Dead Pool (26:21). On the back-half, we discuss her transformation in the groundbreaking 1998 film High Art (28:08), her process of “total immersion” on set (33:26), and how that commitment led to a call from director Martin Scorsese and a pivotal part in Shutter Island (39:33). To close, we talk through Patricia’s raucous role in Easy A (40:50), her ongoing fight for equal pay in Hollywood (42:30), and her lifelong love of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town (52:30). Watch this conversation on our new YouTube channel. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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