Sunday Sitdown With Willie Geist

As a bonus for you, TODAY’s Al Roker is sharing a special preview of his brand-new original podcast, Cooking Up a Storm with Al Roker.Join Al as he whips up a complete Thanksgiving feast with some of the very best chefs around – like Ina Garten and Marcus Samuelsson. Grab your apron as they spill the beans on family secrets to get you ready for the holidays. It’s a feast for the ears!Listen now to Cooking Up a Storm with Al Roker:https://link.chtbl.com/cus_feed

A native of St. Louis, Andy Cohen began his career as a television news producer before jumping to entertainment and dreaming up the wildly popular Real Housewives series on Bravo. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the Watch What Happens Live host to talk about the world he has created, his new book and his son, Benjamin.

Julianne Moore grew up moving around the world with her military dad before making her way to Hollywood as a young actress. Since then she’s had an extraordinary career, including five Academy Award nominations and a win for her performance in Still Alice. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with Moore to talk about her shift from movies to television with her role in the Stephen King series Lisey’s Story. (Original broadcast date: June 6, 2021) 

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 week’s “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. 

At the age when most kids are finding their way around the halls of elementary school, Diane Lane was touring the world as an actress. By the time she was a teenager, she became a household name after starring alongside Laurence Olivier in the film A Little Romance. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the star to talk about her more than four decades on screen, including her latest role as the President of the United States in a new series that takes place in a post-apocalyptic, pandemic-stricken world.

Ray Liotta may be best known for his breakout performance as real-life gangster Henry Hill in the iconic movie Goodfellas, a role that had the former soap opera star sharing famous scenes with Joe Pesci, Robert De Niro and Lorraine Bracco. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the actor to talk about that indelible movie and his career since then, including a variety of film and television roles and even a stop on Broadway, before returning to the mob life with his latest role in the upcoming Sopranos movie The Many Saints of Newark.  

The world has been introduced over the last few years to the many talents of Cynthia Erivo. In 2020, the British singer and actress was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance of Harriet Tubman, after previously winning a Tony, a Grammy and an Emmy for her lead role as Celie in The Color Purple on Broadway. In this week’s Sunday Sitdown, Willie Geist gets together with the Erivo to talk about her successful career, including the release of her debut solo album and her new children’s book Remember to Dream, Ebere.

As a bonus for Sunday Sitdown listeners, we’re sharing a special preview of the brand new original podcast, Making Space with Hoda Kotb.Join TODAY’s Hoda Kotb on a journey of self-discovery and resilience of the human spirit. Hoda hears from some of the people she admires most, and whose stories of personal triumph keep her going. Like Hoda, you’ll leave these talks stronger than when you started and inspired to make space in your own life.Listen now to Making Space with Hoda Kotb: https://link.chtbl.com/makingspace_feed 

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 new 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. 

Since their debut in 2013, Dan + Shay have made a name for themselves as one of the best-selling duos in all of music, racking up 3 Grammy Awards and a staggering 8 billion streams of their songs. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the country music duo to talk about their new album Good Things and the story behind their professional partnership born out of a late night house party in Nashville. 

Sandra Oh is best known for her role as Dr. Christina Yang on Grey’s Anatomy, which earned her five consecutive Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe award. Since ending her run on that show, she has starred in and executive produced the hit series Killing Eve, hosted the Golden Globes and Saturday Night Live, and been named one of Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People.” In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with Oh to talk about that success as well as her latest project, playing a trailblazer in the new Netflix series The Chair.

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 week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with Penn to talk about his impressive career, including his new movie Flag Day and his humanitarian work off-screen with his foundation, CORE. 

Jane Krakowski has been working steadily on television, in the movies and on Broadway since she was a teenager, breaking out with a Golden Globe nominated performance on the series Ally McBeal. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the actress to talk about a career that has taken her from that memorable role to 30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and a Tony Award on Broadway.

Luke Bryan has been one of the biggest draws in all of music for nearly a decade, but his audience has grown recently thanks to his role as a judge on American Idol alongside Katy Perry and Lionel Richie. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the country music star in Nashville to talk about that rise to the top of the music world, and the triumphs and trials along the way.

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.

Brad Paisley started his career in Nashville as a songwriter, landing his first hit 25 years ago before the world knew his name. Since then, the West Virginia native has become one of the most popular artists in all of music while rolling out platinum albums, selling out arenas and hosting the CMA Awards with Carrie Underwood. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the country superstar at the Ryman Auditorium to talk about that rise to the top and his efforts to give back to the Nashville community. 

Will Arnett was bouncing around New York and Los Angeles for more than a decade doing dramatic work when he landed a role that put him on the path to comedy stardom - the hilariously buffoonish magician Gob Bluth on Arrested Development. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist talks to the actor about that breakthrough, the new season of his hit series Lego Masters and those pipes that have him voicing every commercial on TV. 

Trevor Noah was virtually unknown to American audiences when he inherited The Daily Show seat from Jon Stewart in 2015. Since then, the South African comedian has made the nightly show his own, even while hosting this year from a corner of his New York City apartment. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with Noah in a park across the street from The Daily Show studio to talk about this past year and why he’s hopeful for the future of the country after the pandemic. 

Matthew McConaughey is known for his free-spirited, easy-going philosophy on life, as embodied in his famous catchphrase “Alright, Alright, Alright.” The actor first uttered those words in the movie Dazed and Confused and they have followed him through a long career in Hollywood, from romantic comedies to TV series to an Academy Award for Dallas Buyers Club. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with McConaughey over Zoom to talk about that journey and what it was like to reflect on it in his book “Greenlights.” (Original broadcast date: November 1, 2020) 

Julianne Moore grew up moving around the world with her military dad before making her way to Hollywood as a young actress. Since then she’s had an extraordinary career, including five Academy Award nominations and a win for her performance in Still Alice. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with Moore to talk about her shift from movies to television with her latest role in the Stephen King series Lisey’s Story.