Movie Interviews

Joaquin Phoenix's Her character, Theodore, has a job writing intimate — and sometimes erotic — cards and letters on behalf of other people.

Arts

Phoenix To Self: 'Why Am I Talking About This? ... Joaquin, Shut Up'

5:56pm February 25, 2014

The elusive actor tells Fresh Air about his new film, Her -- but he insists he's not really that interesting. "If I was driving and I heard this, I'd change the channel," he says.

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Matthew McConaughey stars as a man on the run from authorities in Jeff Nichols' Mud.

Arts

Matthew McConaughey, Getting Serious Again

5:30pm February 25, 2014

Known for rom-coms, the actor, currently starring in Mud, is taking on more dramatic roles.

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A '70s con artist (Christian Bale, right) is forced to team up with an FBI agent (Bradley Cooper, left) in American Hustle, inspired by a real-life sting targeting corrupt politicians.

Arts

At Last, David O. Russell Is Making The Films He Was Meant To Make

5:25pm February 25, 2014

David O. Russell, director of American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook, first spoke with Terry Gross back in 1994. On Thursday, he tells her that after 20 years, he's finally met his aspirations.

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Linda Emond, Hoffman and Andrew Garfield take their opening night curtain call in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman at The Barrymore Theatre in New York City in 2012.

Arts

Philip Seymour Hoffman On Acting: An 'Exhausting' And 'Satisfying' Art

8:21pm February 03, 2014

We listen back to interviews with Hoffman from 1999 and 2008, when he told Fresh Air's Terry Gross that carrying the emotional life of a character could be "burdensome." He was found dead on Sunday at age 46.

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World News

'Return To Homs' Follows Cycle Of Syrian Demonstrations

7:58am January 31, 2014

A new documentary about the war in Syria follows the transformation of peaceful demonstrators into insurgents. Steve Inskeep talks to Orwa Nyrabia, the producer of the film, about the toll of the Syrian civil war on the besieged city of Homs.

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Arts

How Breakthrough 'Captain Phillips' Actor Connected To The Role

6:43pm January 19, 2014

This past week, Somali-born actor Barkhad Abdi received an Academy Award nomination for his role opposite Tom Hanks in the film Captain Phillips. The part was his first acting role. Abdi plays a Somali pirate who leads the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama. He spoke with NPR's Arun Rath in October about learning to relate to his character. (This story originally aired on All Things Considered on Oct. 20, 2013.)

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From left, Meryl Streep, Julianne Nicholson and Juliette Lewis star in August: Osage County.

Arts

'Osage' Hits Close To Home For Writer Tracy Letts

12:53pm January 11, 2014

by NPR Staff

Playwright Tracy Letts won the Pulitzer Prize for August: Osage County, a story of secrets and family dysfunction. Now it's been released as a film, for which Letts wrote the screenplay. The story and its characters came from his own experiences, Letts says.

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In Saving Mr. Banks, Emma Thompson plays Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers, who, Thompson says, hated the whole idea of having her book made into a film.

Arts

Not-So-Cheery Disposition: Emma Thompson On Poppins' Cranky Creator

6:13pm January 09, 2014

When it came to turning her children's book into a movie, Thompson says, P.L. Travers was patronizing, demeaning, rude, and "reminded me of Margaret Thatcher." Thompson plays the acerbic author in Saving Mr. Banks.

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Will Ferrell and Christina Applegate reprise their roles as competing news anchors in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.

Arts

A 'Kind Of A Big Deal' Gets Even Bigger In 'Anchorman 2'

2:43pm December 19, 2013

by NPR Staff

In a sequel, Ron Burgundy makes the leap from local to national news. "We felt like we needed to jack up the stakes," says director and co-writer Adam McKay. He and star Will Ferrell join Terry Gross to talk about making movies — and that epic 'stache.

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Joel (left) and Ethan Coen wrote and directed Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother Where Art Thou?, No Country for Old Men, A Serious Man and True Grit. Their latest film is Inside Llewyn Davis.

Arts

The Coen Bros. On Writing, 'Lebowski' And Literally Herding Cats

12:21am December 18, 2013

Inside Llewyn Davis -- starring Oscar Isaac and a disobedient cat — is the latest from the filmmaking duo. The brothers talk with Fresh Air's Terry Gross about their writing process ("It's mostly napping") and the cult status of their 1998 film The Big Lebowski ("How do you explain that? I have no idea.")

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