Imogen Poots has the resume of an actor twice her age and the chops to match. When you’ve worked with Peter Bogdanovich, Terrence Malick, Richard Linklater, and Cary Fukunaga, all by the time you’re 27, your bulb would have to be sputtering pretty badly if you didn’t learn a thing or two about your craft. Poots is smart, sure, but more importantly, wise. Smart is trying to choose good projects; wise is knowing the outcome isn’t guaranteed and thriving on that uncertainty. (A good tip for surviving not only Hollywood, but life in general.) Smart is knowing the size of the bra that wardrobe hands you on day one of a shoot can signal a creative issue; wise is knowing, “You’re here on Earth for a hot second, so you may as well spend your time doing something you believe in.” Even though her career has consisted mostly of films, Poots believed in Cameron Crowe’s Roadies enough to make an open-ended commitment to a TV series, and she’s chosen well. Turns out music—albums, please—is a treasure she hoards and enjoys sparingly, wanting to preserve her sheer enjoyment of its magic. Which is kind of how we felt about this conversation.
Kathryn Hahn swears she is horrible at selling herself, but these days, Hollywood sure seems to be buying. With film and TV roles multiplying in both quantity and scope, she’s proven herself among the most versatile, funny and increasingly acclaimed actors working today. That has to give you some confidence, right? Well, maybe. It’s taken Hahn a minute to find and own herself and her talent, and she says she’s still figuring it out; but at this point, she’s wise enough to know what she values not only in the projects she takes on, but in life. As well she should–given the opportunities she’s had to work with and learn from some of the best, including Will Ferrell, Jill Soloway, Jeffrey Tambor, and her six-year-old daughter. In this issue, Hahn describes the smell of too much comedic gas (sweaty), the role childhood plays in art (crucial), and how Catholicism screws up everything (we’re officially going to hell now). All, while proving that the best conversations happen with guests who bring two mugs to an interview.
Kathryn Hahn swears she is horrible at selling herself, but these days, Hollywood sure seems to be buying. With film and TV roles multiplying in both quantity and scope, she’s proven herself among the most versatile, funny and increasingly acclaimed actors working today. That has to give you some confidence, right? Well, maybe. It’s taken Hahn a minute to find and own herself and her talent, and she says she’s still figuring it out; but at this point, she’s wise enough to know what she values not only in the projects she takes on, but in life. As well she should–given the opportunities she’s had to work with and learn from some of the best, including Will Ferrell, Jill Soloway, Jeffrey Tambor, and her six-year-old daughter. In this issue, Hahn describes the smell of too much comedic gas (sweaty), the role childhood plays in art (crucial), and how Catholicism screws up everything (we’re officially going to hell now). All, while proving that the best conversations happen with guests who bring two mugs to an interview.
Kathryn Hahn swears she is horrible at selling herself, but these days, Hollywood sure seems to be buying. With film and TV roles multiplying in both quantity and scope, she’s proven herself among the most versatile, funny and increasingly acclaimed actors working today. That has to give you some confidence, right? Well, maybe. It’s taken Hahn a minute to find and own herself and her talent, and she says she’s still figuring it out; but at this point, she’s wise enough to know what she values not only in the projects she takes on, but in life. As well she should–given the opportunities she’s had to work with and learn from some of the best, including Will Ferrell, Jill Soloway, Jeffrey Tambor, and her six-year-old daughter. In this issue, Hahn describes the smell of too much comedic gas (sweaty), the role childhood plays in art (crucial), and how Catholicism screws up everything (we’re officially going to hell now). All, while proving that the best conversations happen with guests who bring two mugs to an interview.
Keegan-Michael Key doesn’t encourage people to make decisions out of fear, but it did work for him—at least for a while. Fear of being left behind and not accepted made him decide that making people laugh could come in handy some day. And fear of uncharted artistic territory resulted in a U-turn towards a career he never could’ve imagined for himself. Yet this is a guy who somehow found the confidence to turn down his second shot at Saturday Night Live—most sketch comics’ very reason for existence. Now, as the lead in Don’t Think Twice, he gets to flex new acting muscles, or perhaps better put, give the old ones a rest.
Keegan’s insights about nature versus nurture, code-switching, and decision-making are worth the read alone, but you’ll be completely sucked in by his observations on the high-wire act that is improvisational comedy. It’s a world we rarely get a good look inside of, and one that becomes more fascinating the more you explore it. To unravel its mysteries, you can go see Don’t Think Twice, or read this issue. We hope you’ll do both.
Keegan-Michael Key doesn’t encourage people to make decisions out of fear, but it did work for him—at least for a while. Fear of being left behind and not accepted made him decide that making people laugh could come in handy some day. And fear of uncharted artistic territory resulted in a U-turn towards a career he never could’ve imagined for himself. Yet this is a guy who somehow found the confidence to turn down his second shot at Saturday Night Live—most sketch comics’ very reason for existence. Now, as the lead in Don’t Think Twice, he gets to flex new acting muscles, or perhaps better put, give the old ones a rest.
Keegan’s insights about nature versus nurture, code-switching, and decision-making are worth the read alone, but you’ll be completely sucked in by his observations on the high-wire act that is improvisational comedy. It’s a world we rarely get a good look inside of, and one that becomes more fascinating the more you explore it. To unravel its mysteries, you can go see Don’t Think Twice, or read this issue. We hope you’ll do both.
Keegan-Michael Key doesn’t encourage people to make decisions out of fear, but it did work for him—at least for a while. Fear of being left behind and not accepted made him decide that making people laugh could come in handy some day. And fear of uncharted artistic territory resulted in a U-turn towards a career he never could’ve imagined for himself. Yet this is a guy who somehow found the confidence to turn down his second shot at Saturday Night Live—most sketch comics’ very reason for existence. Now, as the lead in Don’t Think Twice, he gets to flex new acting muscles, or perhaps better put, give the old ones a rest.
Keegan’s insights about nature versus nurture, code-switching, and decision-making are worth the read alone, but you’ll be completely sucked in by his observations on the high-wire act that is improvisational comedy. It’s a world we rarely get a good look inside of, and one that becomes more fascinating the more you explore it. To unravel its mysteries, you can go see Don’t Think Twice, or read this issue. We hope you’ll do both.
Though it’s probably not what Shakespeare meant when he had Hamlet pondering “…the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,” it’s a phrase that comes to mind in pondering the fortune of Krysten Ritter. For years, she’s patiently taken every small, prescribed, and hard-fought step to acting—mall discovery, modeling, commercials, countless ‘friend’ roles and a couple of cancelled shows—before landing the lead in Marvel’s Jessica Jones on Netflix, a role Rolling Stone called “…the sort of conflicted, damaged anti-heroine who’s right in Ritter’s sweet spot.” Ritter didn’t mind the journey, believing each step prepared her for the next. But nothing quite prepared her for Jessica Jones. With exponential opportunities, success (and minor injuries) came an outrageous new schedule, responsibility, and fame that she’s still learning how to handle without throwing up or fainting dead away. But she’ll take every arrow in the quiver if it means continuing to do what she loves. Ritter talks about her tough but formative adolescence, being at the forefront of an unprecedented new TV format, and why you might want to pick up a pack of Post-Its the next time you’re at the store.
