Back to One
A podcast about acting -- just the work. by Peter Rinaldi
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“The Only Way I Can Go on a Set Is If My Head is Out on the Chopping Block and I’m Begging for the Blade to Come Down”: Vincent D’Onofrio, Back To One, Episode 333
An actor’s actor of the first order, Vincent D’Onofrio has been delivering “all in” performances, usually in supporting roles, for nearly four decades—Full Metal Jacket, Men In Black, Household Saints, Steal This Movie!, The Cell, The Magnificent Seven, to name just a few, not to mention 10 audience-loving seasons of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. He’s getting more accolades for his latest performance as Wilson Fisk in Daredevil: Born Again. On this episode he talks about the “emotional event” that he has to summon to bring about Fisk’s voice in that series and its predecessor. He takes us all the… Read more
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“To Be Able To Play a Flawed, Complex, Messy Woman Who Is Morally Ambiguous …That To Me Is the Juicy Stuff”: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Back To One, Episode 332
The celebrated period drama Belle marked the arrival of Gugu Mbatha-Raw and since then she hasn’t stopped impressing audiences in films like Motherless Brooklyn, Misbehaviour and series like Doctor Who, Black Mirror (San Junipero episode), Loki, The Morning Show, and Surface, which is now releasing episodes from its second season. On that Apple TV+ series, Gugu plays Sophie, a woman who has lost her recent memories and must piece them together. She talks about the “liberating” feeling she got playing someone with a missing back story and how it forced her to be present. She explains how she utilizes her… Read more
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“It’s About Self Exposure and Allowing Someone to See” Caveh Zahedi, Back To One, Episode 331
Caveh Zahedi is one of the most influential independent filmmakers of our time. Jay Duplass, Lena Dunham, Richard Linklater, Greta Gerwig are all big fans of his 30+ years worth of ultra-autobiographical work (five features, I am A Sex Addict perhaps being the most popular). His magnum opus, The Show About The Show, started out as a “self-reflexive TV show about its own making” for BRIC TV and has continued despite lawsuits, loss of distribution, re-castings, and many more obstacles, thanks to Zahedi’s dogged determination to simply tell the story, mostly through re-enactments using the actual people in his orbit… Read more
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“I Want Everyone to be Jarred by It…Especially the Men on Set”: Lucy Boynton, Back To One, Episode 330
Lucy Boynton is known for delivering exceptional performances in films like Sing Street, Bohemian Rhapsody, Chevalier, and The Greatest Hits. Her latest is the BritBox’s limited series A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story, about a woman convicted of killing her abusive lover who then became the last woman to be hanged in the UK. On this episode, she talks about why the challenge she faced portraying Ellis “wasn’t an actor issue,” but more about facing the traumas women are still dealing with decades later. She ponders how acting as a child served her into adulthood, explains why over-direction is… Read more
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“I’m Really Good at Getting a Laugh Out of Terrible Circumstances”: Griffin Dunne, Back To One, Episode 329
Griffin Dunne has balanced acting, directing, and producing for over 40 years in this business. Chilly Scenes of Winter, An American Werewolf in London, After Hours, Practical Magic, This is Us, to name just a small handful of his credits. For his latest, Ex-Husbands, he delivers a performance revelatory in its ease, miraculously blending lightness and dread. It’s so much fun, and even inspirational, to simply watch him walk around as this character, carrying this load. Hopefully, this is the start of a new chapter: Dunne as the contemplative man of a certain age who has seen it all. On… Read more
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“Being Clean with the Words Gave Me More Freedom than Anything”: Margo Martindale, Back To One, Episode 328
In movies like Million Dollar Baby, August: Osage County, Blow The Man Down, and series like The Americans, Justified, and Sneaky Pete, “esteemed character actress Margo Martindale” loves to play people much different from herself. And she’s been so good at it for so long that she only started to get truly recognized for her work in her 60s. Three Emmys later, she’s able to pick and choose what she wants to do. Her latest, the Amazon series The Sticky, finds her number one on the call sheet and having a blast playing the bombastic maple syrup farmer Ruth Landry.… Read more
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Actor and Teacher Brad Fleischer on the Importance of the Visceral Over the Intellectual in the Work of the Actor: Back To One, Episode 327
Brad Fleischer is an actor, teacher, coach, filmmaker, producer, and founding partner of GhostLight Media. He originated the role of Doug in Gruesome Playground Injuries alongside Selma Blair. On Broadway, he starred opposite Robin Williams in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, opposite Tony Schaloub in Golden Boy, and played the title character in the Olivier award winning Coram Boy. On the screen, Brad has worked with Robert De Niro in The Good Shepherd, Scott Frank and Liam Neeson in Walk Among the Tombstones, Greg Nicotero on The Walking Dead, among many others. For 17 years and counting, he continues… Read more
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“If You Remember That You Are a Creative Artist While You’re Being an Interpreter, You’re Gonna Be All Right”: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Back To One, Episode 326
Marianne Jean-Baptiste is getting accolades and awards for her incredible performance in Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths. The two last worked together nearly 30 years ago, on Leigh’s Secrets and Lies, for which Jean-Baptiste was nominated for an Oscar. On this episode, she takes us all the way back to her first time working with Mike Leigh, on the play It’s A Great Big Shame, and details for us the ins and outs of working with him on these three projects. She talks about her love of process, how this intense character work fuels her on less actor-centric jobs, why she’s still mad at Leigh… Read more
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Mike Leigh Dishes Hard Truths: A Special Episode
The U.S. premiere of Hard Truths at the New York Film Festival in October brings director Mike Leigh back to the podcast for the third time (Ep. 54 and Ep. 204). He talks about working again with Marianne Jean-Baptiste after nearly 30 years, how a lower budget didn’t change his process but made him “dig vertically,” why American actors are unofficially not allowed in his films. Plus he shares his hope for cinema after he’s gone, but explains why he refuses to officially pass down his process. And much more! Hard Truths opens in select U.S. theaters on Friday January… Read more
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“Letting Go of Judgement of Myself and Just Having My Imagination Be So Big”: Tiffany Boone, Back To One, Episode 324
Tiffany Boone’s breakout role was Jerrika Little on the series The Chi. Little Fires Everywhere, The Midnight Sky, Nine Perfect Strangers, and Hunters followed. Now she voices Sarabi in Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King. She explains how getting back to her childlike imagination was a must for that role. She tells the story of trying to break up with acting but acting wouldn’t break up with her. She talks about the importance of knowing the character better than anyone else, how focusing on connecting with people through her art allowed her to “let go of the desperation,” and much more.… Read more
