Sunday Sitdown With Willie Geist

The multi-talented musician H.E.R. has worked to avoid becoming a package for pop cultural consumption, with her name and signature sunglasses meant to make the audience focus on the music and not on her. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the artist to talk about her meteoric rise from child prodigy to the heights of the music world, including winning a Grammy, an Oscar and performing at the Super Bowl. (Original broadcast date: July 11, 2021)

In its first month of streaming in the fall of 2020, Emily in Paris captured the attention of 58 million viewers and made actress Lily Collins a bona fide star around the world. But the 33-year-old’s latest role in the intense, claustrophobic film Windfall is a world away from Paris. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist talks to Collins about that new movie, as well as the global success of Emily in Paris and what it was like growing up the daughter of legendary musician Phil Collins.

It’s been 8 years since Seth Meyers took the Late Night baton from his friend Jimmy Fallon, carrying on a legendary legacy started by David Letterman in 1982. Before taking over behind that desk, Meyers spent over a decade at Saturday Night Live, first as a cast member, then as Head Writer and host of “Weekend Update.” In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the television host and comedian to talk about applying those writing skills to a new children’s book inspired by his three kids. 

A comedian by trade, and a young writer at Saturday Night Live in the years of Chris Farley, Adam Sandler and Chris Rock, Bob Odenkirk made a dramatic career turn in 2009 when he landed a role on the hit series Breaking Bad and later earned his own spinoff show, Better Caul Saul. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist talks to Odenkirk about a new memoir that documents that journey from SNL to dramatic actor all the way to action star. 

In 1994, Courteney Cox landed the role that would change her life and make her a star around the world – playing Monica Geller on the hit show Friends. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the actress to talk about what it was like living inside the bubble of the Friends phenomenon and her impressive career since then, including a successful run of Scream movies, the acclaimed show Cougar Town, and her latest horror comedy series, Shining Vale.

Already a Tony-nominated triple-threat on Broadway and a member of the original cast of Hamilton, Ariana DeBose has recently shot to Hollywood stardom with an electrifying performance as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. In this week’s Sunday Sitdown, Willie Geist gets together with the actress to talk about that role which has already earned her a Golden Globe award for Best Supporting Actress and an Academy Award nomination. 

Before he was an actor, Tony Shalhoub grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin as the ninth of ten kids. His father was a Lebanese immigrant who came to the United States in 1920. Now, Shalhoub is a four-time Emmy winner, a Golden Globe winner, and a Tony winner. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with Shalhoub to talk about the fourth season of the beloved hit series, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and his 30-year career starring in series like Wings and Monk.   

Long before acting ever crossed his mind, Liam Neeson was an altar boy and a promising young boxer growing up in Northern Ireland. But once he found the stage, he put down the gloves and eventually became one of Hollywood’s favorite actors. In this week’s Sunday Sitdown, Willie Geist gets together with Neeson to talk about his prolific career of roles ranging from Schindler’s List to Taken to the fan-favorite Love Actually, plus his latest performance in the new action film Blacklight.

Jamie Dornan was born in a place called Holywood, a small town in Northern Ireland just outside of Belfast. After bumping along for years as an actor in the other Hollywood, Dornan shot to international fame with his starring role in the billion-dollar Fifty Shades of Grey movies. In this week’s Sunday Sitdown, Willie Geist gets together with the star at an Irish pub to talk about his latest performance in the acclaimed film Belfast, a role that hits much closer to home. 

Mahershala Ali has established himself as one of Hollywood’s best and most respected actors, winning two Academy Awards for his work in Moonlight and Green Book and just last month earning a Golden Globe nomination for the movie Swan Song. In this week’s Sunday Sitdown, Willie Geist gets together with the actor to talk about his moving performance in that new film and his journey from Oakland, California to the top of the A-list. 

Goldie Hawn arrived in Hollywood as a teenaged dancer, but soon found herself doing television comedy on the show Laugh-In in the late 1960s and has been winning over audiences ever since. In this week’s Sunday Sitdown, Willie Geist gets together with the Oscar winner over Zoom to talk about her career full of hit movies, as well as the project she is most passionate about – an initiative called MindUp focused on the mental well-being of children. 

Since starring together in The Three Amigos in 1986, Steve Martin and Martin Short have worked together on the blockbuster Father of the Bride movies, toured the country making relentless jokes at each other’s expense, and now they’re starring in a hilarious series about three neighbors working together to solve a murder in their New York City apartment building. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown” Willie Geist gets together with the two comedy legends to talk about that series Only Murders in the Building and their 35 years of friendship. (Original broadcast date: September 12, 2021) 

Ed Sheeran is nominated for a fifth career Grammy Award this year for his latest hit “Bad Habits,” which introduced a sound that had his fans asking if it was really Ed Sheeran. In this week’s Sunday Sitdown, Willie Geist gets together with the pop superstar to talk about that new sound on his latest album, Equals, his new daughter who influenced the music, and his path from busking on the streets of London to the highest-grossing tour in the history of music. 

Willie looks back on his memorable interviews of the year. Kate Hudson was just 21 years old when she won a Golden Globe for her role in Almost Famous. In the two decades since, she has starred in a run of romantic comedies, launched a successful athleisure brand and raised three children ranging in age from toddler to teenager. In this “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with Hudson for a conversation about her life and career, and what quarantine was like with those three kids.

Willie looks back on his memorable interviews of the year. Growing up, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson bounced around the country as the son of barnstorming professional wrestler Rocky Johnson. He eventually got into the family business and became the biggest star in wrestling, before transitioning to Hollywood where he is now the highest-paid actor in the business. In this “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with Johnson to talk about that career move, the latest calls for him to run for president and his successful new tequila brand, Teremana.

Willie looks back on his memorable interviews of the year. Since starring together in The Three Amigos in 1986, Steve Martin and Martin Short have worked together on the blockbuster Father of the Bride movies, toured the country making relentless jokes at each other’s expense, and most recently they’re starring in a hilarious series about three neighbors working together to solve a murder in their New York City apartment building. In this “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the two comedy legends to talk about that series Only Murders in the Building and their 35 years of friendship.

Willie looks back on his memorable interviews of the year. Machine Gun Kelly started his music career as a rapper, but it was his latest #1 punk album Tickets to My Downfall that launched the hard-edged musician to superstardom. In this “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the artist to talk about that move to punk after four successful hip-hop albums and his discomfort with the spotlight at the top of the music world.

Willie looks back on his memorable interviews of the year. In the 39 years since audiences fell in love with Sean Penn as Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the two-time Academy Award winner has become one of the best and most respected actors in Hollywood. In this “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with Penn to talk about his impressive career, including his movie Flag Day and his humanitarian work off-screen with his foundation, CORE.

Willie looks back on his memorable interviews of the year. The multi-talented musician H.E.R. has worked to avoid becoming a package for pop cultural consumption, with her name and signature sunglasses meant to make the audience focus on the music and not on her. In this “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the artist to talk about her meteoric rise from child prodigy to the heights of the music world, including winning a Grammy, an Oscar and performing at the Super Bowl.

After its release last October, Matthew McConaughey’s extraordinarily raw and honest memoir Greenlights became something of a phenomenon while spending 50 weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers list. In this week’s Sunday Sitdown, Willie Geist gets together with the actor to talk about that book’s success, as well as his latest movie Sing 2 and his decision not to jump into the world of politics.