“There’s a Lot about ‘The Watcher’ and This Third Party in What We Do”: Will Janowitz, Back To One, Episode 311

Straddling the line between outsider artist and full-fledged Hollywood sellout, Will Janowitz has always found solace working both sides of the industry. With work ranging from Troma films to Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock to The Sopranos, he’s made a career of always doing the unpredictable. This year two films he produced, and one he wrote, will make their festival run; Bang Bang starring Tim Blake Nelson and the later, Train Dreams, starring Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones directed by Clint Bently. On this episode he talks about his improvisational sweet spot and how it rests in the heart of danger…  Read more

“You Just Have to Learn to Adapt”: Chase Stokes, Back To One, Episode 310

His breakout role in Netflix’s Outer Banks catapulted Chase Stokes to fame. In the series, he portrays the charismatic and determined John B, the leader of a group of young outcasts on a treasure hunt in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The show’s blend of adventure, mystery, and coming-of-age drama quickly gained a massive fanbase, establishing Stokes as a rising star. Since then he’s been in Tell Me Your Secrets, this year’s The Uglies, opposite Joey King, and next year’s Valiant One, not to mention Season 4 of Outer Banks, which is dropping in October. On this episode, he…  Read more

“The Presence of the Moments While Performing Was, I Think, Something I Was Just Starved for as a Person”: Booger Star Grace Glowicki, Back To One, Episode 309

The mega-talented Canadian multi-hyphenate Grace Glowicki gives an incredible performance in Mary Dauterman’s debut feature Booger. On this episode, she reveals why she was interested in the project before even opening the script, and how she could just tell Dauterman was going to be the kind of director that would give her the support she needs. She talks about her current focus on examining issues dealing with authority, her love of bodily fluids in film, her struggle with emotional scenes, how directing herself as an actor actually helped her acting career, differences between the Canadian and American indie film scene,…  Read more

“The Process Was More Important Than the Result”: My First Film Star Odessa Young, Back To One, Episode 308

Odessa Young is only 26, but she already has a truly impressive body of work behind her. Assassination Nation, A Million Little Pieces, Shirley, Mothering Sunday, The Stand, The Staircase, Manodrome, in each of these projects, she seems to have an effortless command over her character, each unique, never forced, always true. Now she stars as Vita, the lead character based on Zia Anger in My First Film. On this episode, she talks about the need to “cultivate an obsession” as character preparation, recent musings on “how much an actor should act to the camera,” why she never worries about…  Read more

“Those Guidelines, Those Gates, Those Boundaries, Can Free You to Find the Infinite Within Them”: Shrinking’s Luke Tennie, Back To One, Episode 307

To be a standout on a show featuring Jason Segel and Harrison Ford is quite a feat, but that’s exactly what Luke Tennie did in his breakthrough role as Sean in the hit Apple TV+ series Shrinking. On this episode, the seemingly effortlessly-talented young actor takes us back to his early days and details how football played a pivotal part in helping him with the disciplines required for acting. He explains his belief that there can be no real “play” without massive preparation; talks about coming to a place of understanding that auditioning is simply a “demonstration of my capabilities;”…  Read more

“Eventually What I Realized I Was Doing Was Trying to Create an Empathy Machine”: Will Brill, Back To One, Episode 306

He was in The OA, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and played Roy Cohn in Fellow Travelers, but the stage is where Will Brill has found the most satisfaction and success recently, in A Case For The Existence of God, Uncle Vanya, and, just this year, as Reg in Stereophonic on Broadway, for which he received a Tony Award. On this episode he talks about building Reg by starting with his voice, why following playwright David Adjmi to a bar was a pivotal move, the importance of directorial affirmation, how his pre-show ritual has changed, and much more. Back To One…  Read more

“I Just Turned 50 and I Feel Like I’m Just Getting Started”: Simon Rex, Back To One, Episode 305

He was a model and MTV VJ, and then Simon Rex transitioned to acting, becoming widely recognized for his comedic roles in the Scary Movie franchise, where his sharp timing and parody skills made him a fan favorite. But more substantial parts were on the horizon. On this episode, he talks about the job that changed everything, Sean Baker’s Red Rocket, which won him wide acclaim, an Independent Spirt Award, and a fresh chapter in his career. He talks about the interesting new place he finds himself now at the intersection of “not caring and caring SO MUCH.” He explains…  Read more

“That’s What Lights Me Up the Most, This ‘Dance’ with the Writer”: Marianne Rendón, Back To One, Episode 304

Marianne Rendón’s performance in Summer Solstice, Noah Schamus’ “modern twist on the buddy comedy from a queer and trans perspective,” is special in such a rare way that makes shinning a light on it actually detrimental to its effect on the new viewer. Its revelations are small and imbedded in the nuances of the character. It’s how they seem rooted and not created, “lived” and not “played,” that make them extraordinary. On this episode, Rendón takes us back to her training, and how being fed great experimental theater before the classics resulted in a kind of “reverse engineering” of her…  Read more

“I’m Learning to Give Over to the Fear a Little More”: Dylan Arnold, Back To One, Episode 303

Still in his early career, Dylan Arnold has already built a diverse catalog of roles, including a breakout one in season three of Netflix’s You, reprising a fan-favorite for the Halloween franchise in Halloween Kills, and last year, of course, playing Frank Oppenheimer, holding much more than his own, opposite Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy. Now he goes a good bit darker in Alma Har’el’s Apple TV+ series The Lady In The Lake. On this episode, he talks about the differences between these two incredible actor’s directors, Har’el and Christopher Nolan, and what works best for him. He explains the importance of…  Read more

“I Wanna Experience the Feeling, Fully”: David Garelik, Back To One, Episode 302

David Garelik was in Trey Edward Shults’ Waves, Peter Berg’s Mile 22, and recently finished a run of an Off-Broadway 2-hander at the WP Theater, co-produced with Colt Coeur. Now you can see him as the bad guy/enucleator, opposite Liana Liberato, on this season of Criminal Minds: Evolution on Paramount+. On this epic episode, he recounts his journey from moving to New York with zero acting experience and “being a bad auditioner,” to making naivety work for him and “changing the game” by refusing to play it. It’s a story of perseverance, endurance, and growth, fueled by focus on the…  Read more