The annual, Bataan Death March-like awards season always has its upsides, the best perhaps being Variety’s Actors on Actors series, in which (drum roll) actors sit down with (now lean forward in anticipation) actors about their fêted performances and the films in which they exist. What separates this from almost any similar material, most especially the Hollywood Reporter roundtables that crop up this time of year, is a lack of mediation. Seated opposite each other, they ask questions both somewhat awkward and plenty endearing, and no one’s there trying to spice it up.
This year offers some very nice options; you don’t even have to like (or care about, or have seen) the works in question to get something from their players. My favorite (Michael Shannon and Adam Driver) is two guys who ease their way into a conversation, while others (e.g. Natalie Portman and Michelle Williams) kind of take off right away. There’s a plurality of tones, yet the results are consistently revealing as looks at a performer’s psychology.
Cycle through them below: