Motion picture acting
Bradley Cooper Finds 'Silver Linings' Everywhere.
The actor, nominated for an Academy Award for his role in David O. Russell's film, talks about watching movies with this father as a kid in Philadelphia, his childhood fascination with soldiers and being up against Daniel Day Lewis for an Oscar.
Doris Day: A Hollywood Legend Reflects On Life
Day started singing and dancing when she was a teenager, and made her first film at 24. After nearly 40 movies, she walked away from that part of her life in 1968, and started rescuing and caring for animals. Here, she speaks to Terry Gross in a lengthy interview about her career in film and music.
'Unchained' Admiration Between Actor And Director
Austrian actor Christoph Waltz won an Oscar for his portrayal of Nazi Jew hunter Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film Inglorious Basterds. Teamed up with Tarantino again in Django Unchained, he says Tarantino's writing and the rhythm of the language speaks to him as a performer.
From Sweet To Steely: Amy Adams In 'The Master'
The Oscar-nominated actress plays the forbidding wife of a cult leader in Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master. She tells Fresh Air it was an opportunity to play a character type she'd never played before.
Kelly Macdonald: Strong Woman On The 'Boardwalk'
The Scottish actress plays Margaret Thompson, a young Irish widow who marries a corrupt politician on HBO's Boardwalk Empire. MacDonald, who got her start in Trainspotting, tells Fresh Air that she enjoys playing a "strong character" for a change.
Going Under The 'Boardwalk' With Michael Shannon
The actor plays a righteous federal agent who succumbs to all sorts of temptations on the HBO drama Boardwalk Empire. To build the character of Nelson Van Alden, he says, he worked out an elaborate back story about the agent's childhood. The third season starts Sunday.
Sigourney Weaver's Stately Role In 'Political Animals'
The actress play smart, tough Secretary of State Elaine Barrish in the new USA Network miniseries Political Animals. It's another strong role for Weaver, who has starred in films like Alien, Ghostbusters and Gorillas in the Mist.
Brad Pitt: On Life, Movies And 'Moneyball'
The veteran actor has played a Nazi-hunter, a vampire, a cowboy hitchhiker and the outlaw Jesse James. In his latest film, Brad Pitt plays the manager of baseball's Oakland A's. He tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross why the part interested him and what it's like to live life in the public eye.
Michael Fassbender: Portraying An Addict's 'Shame'
In the past year, actor Michael Fassbender has played a mutant villain in X-Men: First Class, psychoanalyst Carl Jung in A Dangerous Method, Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre and a sex addict in Shame. He discusses several of those roles, as well as his part in Inglorious Basterds.
Gary Oldman: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sirius
The actor is so good at what he does, you might not recognize him from role to role. He's played everyone from Sid Vicious and Dracula, to Sirius Black in the Harry Potter films, and now George Smiley in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.