Nominations voting for the Oscars has now closed, which means that some of the campaigning for the various films and performers vying for Oscar glory is on pause for the moment. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t still reap the benefits of said campaigning. While plenty of shilling is superfluous and only serves to get faces out in front of voters, the most rewarding aspect of each Oscar season is the various roundatable interviews and discussions with some of the best filmmakers, craftspeople, and performers working today. We’ve already shared an hourlong roundtable with directors like Quentin Tarantino and Ridley Scott, and now it’s time to the turn the tables on the actors.

The folks at Variety put on a series of discussions called “Actors on Actors”, in which performers from various Oscar-contending films actually interview each other in 20 to 25-minute segments. The result is a much more relaxed, candid, and entertaining affair than your typical junket or interview session, and this year’s crop of participants makes for some great conversation.


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Image via The Weinstein Company

Below you can watch interviews between Steve Carell (The Big Short) & Rooney Mara (Carol), Samuel L. Jackson (The Hateful Eight) & Michael Keaton (Spotlight), Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs) & Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn), Paul Dano (Love & Mercy) & Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Walk), Seth Rogen (Steve Jobs) & Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Cate Blanchett (Carol) & Ian McKellen (Mr. Holmes), Will Smith (Concussion) & Benicio Del Toro (Sicario), Elizabeth Banks (Love & Mercy) & Carey Mulligan (Suffragette), Amy Schumer (Trainwreck) & Lily Tomlin (Grandma), Charlotte Rampling (45 Years) & Isabella Rossellini (Joy), Jason Segel (The End of the Tour) & Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), and Brie Larson (Room) & Joel Edgerton (Black Mass).

The throughline here, and what makes them so entertaining, is seeing that most of these actors are cinephiles just like us, geeking out over working with Roger Deakins or relaying past experiences that were incredibly difficult but ultimately rewarding. It’s also great to see something like Jackson and Keaton reminiscing extensively about their time on Jackie Brown.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy all four hours of interviews (via The Film Stage), or bookmark this page until you’ve watched to your liking. If you’re a cinephile like us here at Collider, we can pretty much promise you’ll find these entertaining.




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Image via Universal Pictures