Talk Easy With Sam Fragoso

Spaceballs! Independence Day! Lost Highway! Bill Pullman is an actor you've seen on screen for the past four decades of film and television. Now he's here, at my house, working through the memories of his life. *Light (sporadic) snoring on this episode provided by our dog, Delizia.* For more about our show (and Bill) go here: http://talkeasypod.com/artist/bill-pullman/

Brit Marling has spent the past five years co-creating The OA, a mystical, spellbinding show that defies one sentence log-lines. (So best not to try.) After mysteriously premiering on Netflix in 2016, season 2 is set to be released March 22nd. But to be honest...we don't dive into the intricacies of the show's labyrinthian plot. Instead we talk about everything else, from the physical demands of birthing a piece of long-form storytelling into existence to why B.J. Armstrong was, potentially, just as important to the Chicago Bulls as Michael Jordan. For more episodes visit www.talkeasypod.com

Three days tardy but we got Vincent D'onofrio. After some explaining in the intro, we get into it. Working with Kubrick and Altman. His tenure on Law & Order. The worst performance he ever delivered on screen. Then, finally, his unofficial official directorial debut, The Kid. For more, our website: www.talkeasypod.com

Multi-talented comedian and actress Mary Holland stopped by today to talk about performing in UCB Improv shows, her performance tendencies and where they come from, and reflecting on past periods of her life, including her childhood, college, and acting career.

Friends. Keith David has been in, wait for it, over 300 films and television programs. Somehow that is not a fictitious number. With his booming, commanding voice you've seen him in The Thing! They Live! Platoon! Armageddon! He's worked with Spike Lee, Oliver Stone, John Carpenter, the list goes on for days. And yet, to be honest, Keith and I talk about life outside of the frame. Family, love, alcoholism, ambition. We try to cover 62 years in 60 minutes. Write in to us at: talkeasypod@gmail.com. Visit our website: talkeasypod.com

Matt Walsh is a staple in contemporary comedy. We talk UCB, being a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, his recurring role on Veep, and making people laugh for the past thirty years. For more, our website: www.talkeasypod.com

Dulé Hill has done it all. The West Wing! Psych! Ballers! She’s All That! His most recent acting challenge is playing Nat King Cole in “Lights Out”, a play co-written by Talk Easy alum Colman Domingo. (The wonderful production can be seen at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, from now through March 17th.) In conversation, we talk tap-dancing for Jerry Lewis’ MDA Telethon as a child, making a career in acclaimed television, and how God has shaped the man he is today.

Welcome back! We're excited to return with the multi-hyphenate talent Minhal Baig. She’s a story editor on “BoJack Horseman”, a writer on the forthcoming A24 show “Ramy”, and, above all, a director. Her sophomore film, called “Hala”, premiered this past week at the Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews. (Apple promptly acquired the project.) For our season 3(ish) premiere, we sat down in Park City to discuss the autobiographical nature of “Hala”, growing up in Chicago as a Muslim teenager, and how she left home and jumped headfirst into Hollywood.

Jeremy O. Harris has managed to be a playwright, actor, and screenwriter all while still being a student at the Yale School of Drama. His latest piece, “Slave Play”, is currently at the New York Theater Workshop. On our final episode of the year, Jeremy and Sam sort through how Jeremy arrived at this rare moment, the kind of conversations on race he hopes to have in his work, and why he’s feeling limitless these days.

Jacqueline Bisset ladies and gentleman. Bullitt, Casino Royale, Murder on the Orient Express, Day for Night. The list is endless. And then there are her collaborators: John Huston, Sidney Lumet, François Truffaut, Roman Polanski. The legendary actress has done it all and this, somehow, is her first podcast.

Chris Elliott has made a living out of making us laugh. Whether that be through writing and performing on Late Night with David Letterman, support parts in Groundhog Day and There's Something About Mary, or his cult-classic "sitcom" Get A Life, he's done it all. Most recently, he's in Bridey Elliott's directorial debut Clara's Ghost. Over the next hour Sam and Chris dive into how he juggled fatherhood and the Letterman show, the difficulties of making Get A Life, and why Cabin Boy has shaped the last 20 years of his career.

Filmmaker Patrick Wang joined Sam today to discuss how drawing on his experiences growing up in Houston, TX, being an exchange student in Argentina, studying at MIT, and how he perceives other people influence the films he creates. They also talked about why he self-distributes his films, the rejection he has to deal with constantly, and how he overcomes it.

This week’s episode was a first for the show, as Sam has on sex educator and visual artist Zoë Ligon. They dive into what it's like to write about sex on the Internet in 2018, carnal desires in the “Me Too” era, how parents should talk to their children about sex, and more.

This week, Sam sits down with artist Viggo Mortensen ahead of the release of his new film, Green Book. They talk about his (very supportive) cinephile mother, his on-screen debut (Witness), how he chose love and family over Hollywood throughout the 1990’s, and why he pivoted after the massively successful "Lord of the Rings" franchise. Oh, and a brief monologue about happiness.

Jonny Sun is a writer known, primarily, for his words on Twitter.com. His quick wit and life-affirming tweets has garnered the attention of many online, including former Hamilton star Lin-Manuel Miranda. Together they have a new book out by Random House called "Gmorning, Gnight!", illustrated by Sun. (Oh, right, he's also an excellent illustrator.) He was also recently brought on as a staff writer of Bojack Horseman. On the show we talk about Sun's ascension through social media, growing up in Toronto, living up the expectations of his parents, and how he juggled comedy and engineering during his years at school.

Adam Bhala Lough is a documentarian best known for his films “The Carter” and “The New Radical”. His most recent project, Alt-Right: Age of Rage, is a look inside the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency, tracking the rise of alt-right coalitions and the groups (mainly, ANTIFA) combating them. On that note...please go vote on November 6th.

The death of Michael Brown changed DeRay Mckesson's life (9:21). It changed all of our lives. But it was the unjust murder of the 18-year-old Brown that propelled Mckesson into protest. With the release of his new book, On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope, the activist and author discusses early memories of the BLM movement (16:08), supporting Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election (20:22), the role of social media in contemporary politics (24:48), how he's navigates work and self-care (29:23), what he learned from running for Mayor of Baltimore (38:17), the criticism he's faced from fellow activists (40:46), and the hope he maintains for a better future (44:40). You can find all of our episodes at talkeasypod.com. The show is produced by Dylan Peck. Portrait by Krishna Shenoi.

For 20 years Paul Dano has been a revelation in front of the camera. He began in L.I.E., evolved in Little Miss Sunshine, emerged in There Will be Blood, and transmuted in 12 Years a Slave. (There are others, but the list is too long for a podcast description.) Most recently, he's moved behind the camera with "Wildlife", a searing portrait of a fractured family set in 1960s' America. He talks to Sam about his stunning directorial debut, growing up in "East Manhattan", what he learned from filmmaking titans like Kelly Reichardt, Spike Jones, Paul Thomas Anderson, and why he's always - since his days as a child actor - been skeptical of Hollywood.

Nathaniel Rich is a writer-at-large for the New York Times Magazine whose latest piece, "Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change", is a landmark investigation into our current climate crisis. We discuss the 18 month process of writing this story, the moral obligation we have to preserve the world around us, what the planet may look like in 30-40 years, and how he believes we can combat the terrifying future ahead.

Multi-talented jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington stopped by this week to discuss growing up as a "closeted nerd" in South Central Los Angeles, playing gigs at bars and clubs as a teenager, touring with Snoop Dogg at 18, his new record, Heaven and Earth, and the pressure he feels once he steps into the studio.