Movie Interviews

"The way the public feels about Tom Hanks has a similar quality to how we feel about Mister Rogers," says director Marielle Heller. But she found that Hanks and Rogers had a very different energy. At the beginning, she tried to "rein Tom's natural buoyanc

Arts

'Beautiful Day' Director On Mister Rogers' 'Radical Notion': Telling Kids The Truth

12:20pm November 21, 2019

by Terry Gross

"He wasn't afraid of any of the hardest parts of childhood," Marielle Heller says. Her film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood centers on Rogers' unlikely friendship with a cynical journalist.

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In the late 2000s, Robert Pattinson began playing vampire Edward Cullen in the film adaptations of the Twilight novels. "It was so sudden, it didn't feel real to me at all," he says of the fame.

Arts

Robert Pattinson Does Not Want To Play An English Prince, Thank You Very Much

2:21pm November 18, 2019

by Terry Gross

Even since he was a kid, Pattinson has been drawn to antihero characters. In his new film, he and costar Willem Dafoe play lighthouse keepers who get stranded by a bad storm in 1890s New England.

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Actor Sterling K. Brown Plays A Strict, Demanding Father In His New Movie 'Waves'

4:24pm November 15, 2019

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Sterling K. Brown about starring as a father trying to hold his family together in the new film, Waves.

Scott Z. Burns On 'The Report'

5:34am November 15, 2019

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to director Scott Z. Burns about his new film The Report. It's about a Senate staffer's efforts to investigate and expose the CIA's use of torture.

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Matt Damon On Playing A Race Car Driver In Famous Ford-Ferrari Rivalry Of The '60s

4:34pm November 14, 2019

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Matt Damon about starring as racing driver and car designer Carroll Shelby in the new movie, Ford v Ferrari.

"I will be a storyteller 'till the day I die," Reese Witherspoon says. "It's really what I was born to do."

Arts

'From Book To Script To Screen,' Reese Witherspoon Is Making Roles For Women

11:56am November 14, 2019

by Terry Gross

Frustrated by the lack of leading roles for female actors, Witherspoon decided to start her own production company. Her new project, The Morning Show, takes on sexual harassment in the news industry.

'The Report' Looks At Investigation Into CIA's Enhanced Interrogation Program

4:51pm November 13, 2019

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Daniel J. Jones, lead investigator for the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on the CIA's enhanced interrogation program. Adam Driver plays him in The Report.

Arts

Actor Willem Dafoe Reflects On A Career Of Being A 'Good Bad Guy'

1:33pm November 13, 2019

by Dave Davies

Dafoe has played villains, soldiers, van Gogh and Jesus. He's earned four Oscar nominations and appeared in more than 100 films — including, most recently, Motherless Brooklyn and The Lighthouse.

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Filmmaker Judd Apatow describes his mentor, the comedian Garry Shandling (above), as a perfectionist: "He just could not just be chill and make it easy on himself. He wanted everything to be amazing."

Books
Arts

After Comic Garry Shandling's Death, Judd Apatow Found Zen In His Diaries

2:27pm November 11, 2019

by Terry Gross

"He completely changed my life," Apatow says of his mentor. It's Garry Shandling's Book, which Apatow edited, explores the insecurities and personal trauma that Shandling turned into comedy.

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Rosine Mbakam, left, says she chose to shoot all images and sound herself to maintain an equal relationship with the subjects of her films.

World News

Meet The Filmmaker Reinventing How African Women Are Portrayed In Movies

7:06am November 10, 2019

by Isabella Gomez Sarmiento

Two deeply personal films from Cameroonian Rosine Mbakam won critical acclaim in the U.S. by grappling with how families maintain traditions in a time of global migration and generational change.