Collider Ladies Night & Collider Forces

Getting a breakout role in film and television is the dream for many aspiring actors, but just as important are the projects one chooses to take after that breakout gig. Given the business’ habit of boxing artists into the first thing the world sees them do well, it can be a great challenge to amass a diverse body of work. How does one steer clear of those limitations and carve a path forward with volume and diversity? Perhaps by taking a cue from Kaya Scodelario.

Scodelario’s star began to soar via her work as Effy Stonem in the hit British teen series, Skins. After doing four seasons of the show, Scodelario began to pick up other television and film credits, credits ranging from Hollywood blockbusters like 2010’s Clash of the Titans to Andrea Arnold’s Wuthering Heights, which celebrated its big debut at the 2011 Venice Film Festival before going on to other top tier fests like the Toronto International Film Festival and Sundance.

Over a decade later, Scodelario still enjoys a vast range of work. She headlined the 2019 horror gem Crawl, jumped into a popular game franchise with Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, and then did the Christmas romantic comedy, This Is Christmas. Yet another vastly different standout credit on her resume? The new Guy Ritchie Netflix series, The Gentlemen, a kinetic crime comedy that's enjoying a good deal of Emmy buzz this season. 

Inspired by Ritchie’s 2019 film, The Gentlemen series stars Theo James as Edward Horniman. After his father passes, Eddie inherits the family estate and becomes Duke of Halstead. As if all that isn’t enough to process, Eddie is soon made aware that his father secretly made an arrangement with Bobby Glass’ (Ray Winstone) weed empire. If Eddie continues to let them grow their product below ground on his property, he'll get large sums of money in return, money Eddie needs given the state of the family farm and his brother’s (Daniel Ings) habit of accumulating massive debts with dangerous figures. The person in charge of this weed empire while Bobby is in prison? His daughter, Scodelario’s Susie Glass.

In celebration of The Gentlemen’s successful Season 1 run, Scodelario joined me for an episode of Collider Ladies Night to retrace her steps from breaking out via Skins to starring in an acclaimed Guy Ritchie production.

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Melissa Benoist stepped into the Hollywood spotlight in a big way via Glee. Then she cemented herself as a bonafide star and headliner with Supergirl. Now she continues to broaden her range and her industry skill set by starring in and producing the hugely entertaining political drama, The Girls on the Bus.

Created by Amy Chozick and Julie Plec, The Girls on the Bus is inspired by Chozick's memoir, Chasing Hillary. It follows four female journalists played by Benoist, Carla Gugino, Christina Elmore and Natasha Behnam, who are on the campaign trail with aspiring presidential candidates. They all have vastly different backgrounds and goals, but find themselves supporting one another as they navigate career pressures, personal challenges, and frustrations with flawed presidential hopefuls.

As Collider’s Taylor Gates noted in her review, “[Girls on the Bus] handles serious topics, from sexism and racism to abortion and corruption, in a way that feels both raw and palatable while never taking away from the show’s watchability and enjoyability,” and I must agree. Powered by its perfectly assembled core four and their infectious charm, Girls on the Bus quickly earned my investment and heart. Given that, it’ll probably come as no surprise that the show’s cancellation was a massive disappointment. However, that’s not stopping Benoist from celebrating what she and the team achieved.

Benoist took the time to join me for a Collider Ladies Night conversation to recap her road to Girls on the Bus, to discuss her collaboration with her three top-tier co-stars, and to explain why the show’s cancellation will have zero impact on how she looks back on the experience of making it and the final product she and the team produced.

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Eve Best is an acting ace. She’s got loads of impressive screen credits to her name and is a theater legend with two Tony Award nominations, a Drama Desk Award win and a Laurence Olivier Award win as well. Now she’s an absolute force on HBO’s House of the Dragon. It probably goes without saying, she’s always been a dream guest for Collider Ladies Night, but a recent Ladies Night guest skyrocketed Best to being a top priority. While chatting with Jessica Gunning for Baby Reindeer, a performance that appears to have put her on the path to snagging an Emmy nomination, Gunning pinpointed an actor who made a major impression on her during the early days of her career. That actor? Eve Best. Soon after chatting with Gunning, interview opportunities for House of the Dragon Season 2 popped up, and I jumped on it.

Best plays Rhaenys, the Queen Who Never Was, in the Game of Thrones prequel series. Despite having a number of qualities that’d make her an ideal leader, Rhaenys was passed over to succeed King Jaehaerys I for being a woman. She eventually comes to terms with the decision and attempts to serve Westeros valiantly as a dragon rider and as the wife of Lord Corlys Velaryon of Driftmark (Steve Toussaint). Despite Viserys (Paddy Considine) naming Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) his heir, Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) takes the throne, solidifying the stark divide between the Greens, those who support Aegon, and the Blacks, those who continue to back Rhaenyra’s claim. As a member of Team Black, Rhaenys begins Season 2 doing what she can to keep her side safe while strategizing for all-out war.

With House of the Dragon Season 2 kicking off its highly anticipated run on Sunday, June 16, I recently sat down with Best for a Ladies Night conversation to discuss how she’s honed her craft over the years, and Rhaenys’ approach to being a strong leader with war brewing in Westeros.

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Adria Arjona has been showing off her impeccable craft and great range for years now, but Hit Man might be one of her most impressive performances of the bunch. She isn’t playing a femme fatale in the film, rather, she’s playing a woman playing a femme fatale to better suit what she thinks her new beau wants to see in a potential partner — which is exactly what he’s doing to her. It's a mighty complicated concept that demands the most refined screenplay and deft performances. 

Glen Powell headlines Richard Linklater’s Hit Man as the title character, in a sense. Powell’s Gary isn’t a hit man, but rather, a “hit man.” He’s a college professor who moonlights for the New Orleans Police Department by posing as a hit man in attempt to catch people trying to off an enemy. It turns out, Gary is quite good at the gig, effortlessly adapting his image to the type of hit man he thinks his target would best respond to. However, one target throws him for a loop — Arjona’s Madison. Madison is struggling with an abusive husband and sees no way out, so tries to hire Gary, posing as Ron, to kill him. Trouble is, Gary winds up falling for Madison, and she winds up falling for him, too — but as Ron.

Hit Man is an utterly delightful and hugely entertaining neo-noir, one that required maximum precision to pull off. Powell isn’t the only one playing a person putting on a persona in the film. So is Arjona. Pulling off such a performance in a way that holds tight to the grounded challenges that put their characters in these positions is no easy task, but Arjona excels tackling the challenge. While Madison was likely a strong character on the page, there's no doubt that Arjona's work is what makes her soar.

How’d Arjona acquire the skill set to genre jump, entertain and craft a deeply human character all at once? That’s exactly what we discussed during our Collider Ladies Night interview in celebration of the release of Hit Man, which is now available to stream on Netflix.

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There’s a multitude of reasons why Hazbin Hotel became Prime Video’s largest global debut for a new animated series. An especially big one, however? That voice cast. Creator Vivienne Medrano and her team hit it big casting every single character in the show, but there’s one in particular that’s a staggeringly perfect match; Erika Henningsenis Charlie Morningstar.

Hazbin Hotel is largely set in Hell where Henningsen’s Charlie, the daughter of Lucifer (voiced by Jeremy Jordan), is fed up with Heaven’s treatment of the souls in Hell. Due to overpopulation, once a year, an army of angels led by Adam (Alex Brightman) swoop down from Heaven and exterminate as many sinners as possible. In an effort to save her people and give them the second chance she thinks they deserve, Charlie creates the Hazbin Hotel, a place where sinners can be rehabilitated and then ascend to Heaven. 

In celebration of Hazbin Hotel Season 1’s epic run on Prime Video, a run that sparked an enormous diehard fanbase and deserves some serious Emmy season love, Henningsen joined me for a Collider Ladies Night chat to revisit her road to Hazbin, to discuss her experience bringing Charlie to screen, and to tease what the future holds for the character.

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While celebrating Hazbin Hotel on Collider Ladies Night, creator Vivienne Medrano said she wouldn’t mind seeing the show run for six seasons, like her favorite show of all time, BoJack Horseman. “My favorite show went to six, so six would be cool!” However, she also noted, “The real answer is as many as they’ll give me, forever — forever and ever because there could always be more.” Given the monumental success of Hazbin Hotel Season 1, I’m a big believer Prime Video and A24 should defer to Medrano on this one, and give her whatever she wants!

Hazbin Hotel is something Medrano’s been working on since middle school. After years of honing the characters, she created an independently made pilot episode, after which A24 swooped in to help turn it into a series that Prime Video distributed in January 2024. Not only did the show premiere to glowing reviews, but it also became Prime Video’s largest global debut for a new animated series. But, perhaps most impressive of all was the fervent fanbase the show quickly amassed. Yes, Medrano and Hazbin already had quite the following via the pilot, which crossed 100 million views on YouTube in February, but the debut of Hazbin Hotel Season 1 on Prime Video undoubtedly increased that following exponentially.

The show puts the spotlight on Charlie Morningstar (voiced by Erika Henningsen), the princess of Hell. Due to overpopulation in Hell, angels swoop down from Heaven once a year to conduct a purge, wiping out as many sinners as possible. Charlie’s had enough of seeing her people perish and strives to change the system via her Hazbin Hotel, a hotel designed to rehabilitate sinners and get them into Heaven. Not only is Hazbin Hotel brimming with curious characters, wildly creative world-building and thematic heft, but it’s also a musical — and every single song on its soundtrack is a true banger. 

The competition in the Animated Program category at the Emmys is fierce courtesy of iconic long-running series like The Simpsons and Bob’s Burgers, and new standout programs like X-Men ’97, but given the quality of Hazbin Hotel and the colossal passionate fanbase it's ignited, it deserves to be in the mix.

How exactly does one get from middle school doodles to spearheading an Emmy-worthy animated musical? That’s exactly what I covered with Medrano on her episode of Collider Ladies Night!

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If you’ve seen The Wheel of Time and Fallout, there’s a good chance we had a similar viewing experience. The entire Wheel of Time ensemble is fantastic, but Season 2, which dropped on Prime Video from September 1 to October 6, brought in a new standout character, Renna, the Seanchan sul’dam responsible for making it an especially dark season for Madeleine Madden’s Egwene. As terrible as Renna is, you can’t take your eyes off her, and the credit for that goes to the actor in the role — Hollywood newcomer Xelia Mendes-Jones.

Cut to April 2024. Fallout hits Prime Video and becomes an instant sensation. The majority of the season puts the spotlight on Ella Purnell, Walton Goggins, and Aaron Moten, all of whom give powerhouse performances. With only eight episodes, a bunch of curious locations, a number of key factions to establish, and quite a few complex agendas unfolding, how does an actor with minimal screen time in just two episodes manage to make an impression? Ask Mendes-Jones, because that’s exactly what he does with his character, Dane, a member of the Brotherhood of Steel.

With screen presence like that, there’s no doubt in my mind Mendes-Jones’ star will continue to soar, so he instantly became a top priority guest for Collider Forces.

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We talk about the experience of “breaking out” in Hollywood a lot on Collider Ladies Night. There are many wonderful ways to have that moment in film and television, but Jessica Gunning has seen her star soar in an especially exciting way over the last month courtesy of the popularity of Netflix’s Baby Reindeer.

Based on his own personal experience which he adapted into an award-winning Edinburgh Fringe one-man play, the Richard Gadd-created series stars Gunning as Martha, Donny Dunn’s (Gadd) stalker. What Donny thinks is just a simple act of kindness, offering Martha a free cup of tea on a tough day, winds up being a life-changing exchange as she wedges her way into just about every part of his life. Not only does the relationship turn Donny’s day-to-day on its head, but the experience also challenges him to address some long-buried trauma.

Baby Reindeer isn’t some massive production with a significant monthslong promotional campaign behind it. It’s something that caught on in a big way, seemingly out of the blue, simply because it’s an exquisitely crafted and incredibly well-acted piece. While Gunning isn’t new to the industry by any means, the success of Baby Reindeer has instantly turned her into a highly recognizable name, one earning a good deal of Emmy buzz at the moment, and it’s inspiring many to check out her other credits, films like 2014’s Pride and the ongoing Prime Video series, The Outlaws.

In celebration of this extremely well-deserved game-changing moment, I welcomed Gunning to Collider Ladies Night to revisit her road to Baby Reindeer, to break down the nuances of Martha, and to discuss what it’s like becoming a bonafide Emmy contender.

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No role is easy, but at just 22-years-old, Freya Allan has already had to do a considerable amount of heavy lifting playing characters in dire situations with the weight of the world on their shoulders. After comparing the pressure The Witcher’s Ciri is under to the challenges her Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes character, Mae, faces in the film, Allan laughed and said, “Clearly they look at me and go, 'Yeah, she’s got a lot going on. She’ll do the job.’” Allan may have been humble about it, but roles like Ciri and Mae could never soar without an actor capable of capturing and giving an audience access to their complex internal worlds.

In Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Allan’s Mae finds herself forming an unexpected bond with Owen Teague’s ape character, Noa. It’s hundreds of years after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes. Apes are now the dominant species while humankind struggles to find safety. Given Noa’s grown up in the confines of his village and knows little of the outside world, he’s shocked when he encounters Mae and she isn’t some feral creature, but rather, a brave being of intelligence with wants and a drive that isn’t so different from his own.

With Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes arriving in theaters nationwide on May 10th, I got the chance to have a Collider Ladies Night conversation with Allan to recap her journey in the industry thus far, and to dig into her experience finding Mae and conveying her complicated contributions to paving the way to a brighter future for humankind.

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Welcome to a very special edition of Collider Ladies Night. Not only does this episode feature a personal favorite, but that favorite just became the first Ladies Night third-timer — Melissa Barrera. It was immediately evident that Barrera is an ideal Ladies Night guest during our first chat in January 2022 for Scream, one brimming with enthusiasm and passion for her craft, and for the art of filmmaking in general. That became even more undeniable after connecting at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival for Carmen’s world premiere, and then again in March 2023 for a second Ladies Night in celebration of the release of Scream VI. 

One of the greatest joys of having two Ladies Night conversations a mere year apart with Barrera? Seeing how much she manages to accomplish in that short span, and hearing about how deeply she considers those experiences and how that impacts her goals and perspective on the industry going forward. At that point, making the independent feature, Your Monster, which just premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, heavily influenced her priorities for herself in filmmaking. In March 2023 she explained, “I had a mentality of like, I need to do something big to make a splash and to make a name for myself so that I can green light projects.” However, after working on Your Monster and also The Collaboration, that switched to, “I just want to do projects that speak to my soul and that stretch me.”

Perspective shifts happen often, and should. What good are our experiences if we don’t grow and learn from them? Barrera, however, powered through a rather seismic one since our last Collider Ladies Night interview after she was shockingly fired from Scream 7 due to social media posts regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. During this new Ladies Night interview, Barrera detailed how that and other recent experiences in Hollywood have heavily impacted her understanding of what she’s here to do. From there we lean into yet another new release that solidifies Barrera as a horror genre powerhouse, and bonafide movie star, her latest collaboration with Radio Silence, Abigail.

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If you’re a frequent Collider Ladies Night viewer/reader/listener, you’re likely well aware of my Yellowjackets obsession. I’ve been lucky enough to welcome many Yellowjackets cast members to the show, including Christina Ricci and Jasmin Savoy Brown, but there’s a certain someone who I was extremely disappointed to have missed out on while she was on the show — Ella Purnell. However, the time has finally come. Not only did I get the opportunity to talk a little Yellowjackets with Purnell, but we also got to celebrate yet another exceptional show of hers, Prime Video’s Fallout.

Purnell plays Lucy in the series adaptation of the hugely popular Bethesda game. She’s a vault dweller living safe and sound in Vault 33. They’ve got food, water, and a kind community with a neighborly vibe. Above ground, however, it’s the exact opposite. 219 years since nuclear bombs decimated the surface, everyone else is just trying to survive in an apocalyptic wasteland with little to no rules or morals. In an effort to find her father (Kyle MacLachlan), Lucy opts to do the unthinkable, leave the comfort of sheltered vault life behind to venture out into the ruthless outside world.

In celebration of Fallout’s big debut on Prime Video, Purnell joined me for a Ladies Night conversation to recap her journey in film and television thus far, and discuss how her career priorities have changed over the years.

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After a hugely successful seven-season run, Riverdale came to an end in August 2023 with its 137th episode. Yes, being part of such a show is a blessing, but there’s a significant amount of pressure that comes with answering the question, “What’s next?” Camila Mendes is powering through that pressure right now in a big way — as a multi-hyphenate.

Mendes stars in and executive produced her latest feature, Música. Director Rudy Mancuso also stars in the film as a young street performer from Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood. He’s in a relationship with Francesca Reale’s Haley, but is coming to learn that they might not be on the same page about how and when to find success and stability as a young adult in this world. Could Mendes’ Isabella be the solution? Soon after meeting her, he becomes convinced she understands him better than anyone. But, is it ever that simple?

With Música celebrating its big debut on Prime Video this week, Mendes carved out some time to join me for a Collider Ladies Night conversation to discuss her experience finding her way after Riverdale, and coming to realize that producing is of great interest.

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Nell Tiger Free is proving to be quite the genre powerhouse. After starring in four seasons of the widely acclaimed Apple TV+ series, Servant, alongside Lauren Ambrose, Toby Kebbell, and Rupert Grint, she’s now headlining a brand new Omen movie, The First Omen, directed by yet another soaring force in the horror space, Arkasha Stevenson.

The film takes place before the events of Richard Donner’s 1976 classic and focuses on Free’s character, Margaret. Margaret grew up in an orphanage where she suffered horrific hallucinations and visions. As a result, she was abused by the nuns in the facility. As a young adult, Margaret is in the novitiate phase and heads off to Rome to become a nun. While there, the pain she carries from her tumultuous childhood collides with the discovery of a sinister agenda unfolding around her, a combination that causes her to question her faith, and everything she thought she knew.

In celebration of The First Omen’s big debut, Free joined me for a Collider Ladies Night conversation recapping her journey from first discovering her passion for acting to finding an ideal collaborator in Stevenson while making The First Omen.

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One of the greatest joys of Collider Ladies Night is welcoming a guest back to the show and celebrating how much they’ve accomplished in such a short period of time. That’s the case with DeWanda Wise. She was on Ladies Night for her very first franchise film, Jurassic World Dominion, in 2022 and now she’s back as the star and executive producer of a Blumhouse horror movie.

Wise headlines Imaginary as Jess, a woman who moves back into her childhood home with her husband Max (Tom Payne) and her stepdaughters, Alice (Pyper Braun) and Taylor (Taegen Burns). Soon after moving in, the youngest, Alice, develops an attachment to a stuffed bear named Chauncey. Jess and Max brush it off as a charming connection between a child and her imaginary friend, but when Chauncey’s scavenger hunt becomes increasingly sinister and dangerous, Jess is forced to accept the fact that Chauncey might be more than a stuffed toy, and he might also have a connection to her own long-forgotten past.

Check out this edition of Collider Ladies Night to hear all about Wise's experience starring in and executive producing Imaginary, where she thinks the Jurassic World franchise should go next, the nightmarish note she received while preparing for Captain Marvel, and loads more!

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There is no doubt that this will be the first of many Collider Ladies Night interviews for Millie Bobby Brown. Not only has her acting career been soaring ever since the debut of Stranger Things back in 2016, but Brown is also using her rising start to influence certain projects for the better as a producer. She kicked off the Enola Holmes film series at Netflix wearing both hats, and now she stars in and executive produces her latest ambitious release for the streamer, Damsel.

Brown headlines the film as Elodie, a young woman who agrees to marry a handsome prince (Nick Robinson) in hopes that his kingdom’s riches will help her family’s struggling people. However, nearly immediately after the two are wed, Elodie discovers the truth behind their union; his family is using her as a sacrifice to repay an ancient debt. She’s thrown into a cave with a dragon, kicking off a story that subverts the traditional damsel in distress narrative. There is no savior. It’s up to Elodie to save herself.

During our Collider Ladies Night conversation in celebration of Damsel’s March 8th release on Netflix, Brown took a moment to look back on Stranger Things’ big debut, tease her upcoming film The Electric State, reveal the Damsel scene she feared she couldn't do, and loads more. Hear about it all straight from Brown in this Collider Ladies Night interview!

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Collider Ladies Night was created to highlight how an artist’s experiences paved the way to their latest achievement. There are often loads of highs along the way, but there can also be some more challenging moments, ones that heavily contribute to how one views the industry and how they’ll strive to change it for the better. A shining example of one such force in Hollywood? The Way Home star and executive producer, Chyler Leigh.

The Way Home is a Hallmark series in its second season. Not a frequent Hallmark viewer? Hear me out. Hallmark has a large fanbase and serves it well, but The Way Home has the potential to broaden that viewership. It’s a sci-fi family drama with a fascinating mythology and hugely powerful beating heart. Leigh plays Kat Landry, a woman who’s estranged from her mother, Del (Andie MacDowell), but winds up moving back into her childhood home with her, along with her teenage daughter, Alice (Sadie Laflamme-Snow). While there, Alice discovers that there’s a pond on the propriety with the power to allow certain people to time travel. The thing is, you can’t control where it sends you. The pond decides. And in Alice and Kat’s case, it decides to bring them back to the time when that rift between Kat and Del first formed.

In celebration of The Way Home’s Season 2 run on Hallmark Channel, Leigh joined me for an episode of Collider Ladies Night, and she came to play. I truly love all Ladies Night conversations, but this one is especially packed with hugely insightful and forthright stories about the reality of powering through the pressures of Hollywood.

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Sadie Laflamme-Snow shot out the gate and into Hollywood in a big way. Just a couple of years after graduating from the National Theatre School of Canada, Laflamme-Snow scored a lead role in a Hallmark series opposite two industry heavyweights, Andie MacDowell and Chyler Leigh. 

Since premiering in January 2023, The Way Home has amassed an adoring fanbase that spans generations, and is credited with opening many minds to Hallmark content. Laflamme-Snow plays Alice, a teenager whose parents are on the cusp of divorce. Even though her mother, Kat (Leigh), is estranged from her mother, Del (MacDowell), they move back into her childhood home together, a house in a small farm town called Port Haven. While exploring the property, Alice makes a game-changing discovery. By jumping into a pond in the woods, Alice can time travel. But, Alice isn’t in control of where (when) she goes. That’s up to the pond, and it opts to send her back to 1999, the year that drastically changed Kat and Del’s lives and their connection to one another.

While celebrating The Way Home’s Season 2 run on Hallmark Channel, Laflamme-Snow took the time to join me for a Collider Ladies Night Pre-Party conversation to recap how she scored such a wonderful opportunity so soon after graduation, to dig into Alice’s evolution on the show thus far, and to tease some challenges the character could face in the second half of Season 2.

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As you’ll hear in this edition of Collider Ladies Night, Beanie Feldstein is a favorite. She’s a hugely talented individual, with a deep passion for the craft of acting who heavily values the opportunity to create with good people. There’s no doubt a good deal of that was in her from the start, but in revisiting her filmography in celebration of the release of her latest film, Drive-Away Dolls, it becomes abundantly clear that Feldstein is able to stand tall, deliver big and use her voice to change this industry for the better because she’s been well encouraged and supported by some of the best out there.

Feldstein plays Sukie Shankleman in Tricia Cooke and Ethan Cohen’s Drive-Away Dolls. Fresh out of a relationship with Margaret Qualley’s Jamie, Sukie is on the warpath. She’s a no-nonsense cop who isn’t about to let Jamie get away with breaking her heart. When Jamie and Geraldine Viswanathan’s Marian get mixed up with some criminals while road tripping to Tallahassee, Sukie has no problem giving the goons the information they need to put them hot on Jamie and Marian’s trail.

Collider Ladies Night interviews are meant to be career-spanning conversations touching on as many titles as possible. In Feldstein’s case, however, the interview often came back to one specific film, which is a beautiful thing. Feldstein told me, “Lady Bird changed my whole life and career.”

Check out what Feldstein told me about working with Greta Gerwig on her feature directorial debut, collaborating with "one of the single most brilliant people I've ever been around," Sarah Paulson, making Drive-Away Dolls with Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan, and loads more on this edition of Collider Ladies Night!

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Sophie Wilde’s work in Talk to Me is the epitome of a “breakout performance.” Not only did the film go from Sundance darling to one of the biggest smash hits of 2023, but Wilde herself received the praise she deserved for an incredibly demanding and exceptionally well executed lead performance.

In fact, Wilde’s work as Mia is one of the main reasons why Talk to Me is so much more than a cool horror movie with a super creative high concept. Yes, the A24 acquisition delivers big when it comes to the thrill of watching a group of naive teenagers willingly becoming possessed via the now-iconic hand, but much of the movie’s depth comes from how Mia’s grief makes her susceptible to losing herself in the midst of this sinister high.

In addition to being showered with critical praise and winning Best Lead Actress in Film at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, Wilde just scored one of the most coveted honors for a newcomer in this industry. She was nominated for the BAFTA’s EE Rising Star Award alongside Phoebe Dynevor, Ayo Edebiri, Jacob Elordi, and Mia McKenna-Bruce. Win or lose, the nomination alone is a significant achievement, one that often signals a long, illustrious career to come.

In celebration of that nomination, Wilde joined me for an episode of Collider Ladies Night to revisit some of her early steps in the industry and to recap her journey with Talk to Me.

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Kathryn Newton is taking over in the best possible way. At 27, not only has she already amassed a vast filmography, but it’s one that’s packed with variety and bold creative swings. She headlined a Paranormal Activity film, she’s part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, she was a comedy ace in Blockers, she stars opposite acting icons in HBO’s acclaimed series Big Little Lies, and she’s a certified horror genre powerhouse thanks to Freaky, Radio Silence’s next movie Abigail, and Zelda Williams’ wonderfully dark and charming feature directorial debut, Lisa Frankenstein.

Newton leads as the title character, a misunderstood teenager who feels alone in the world after her mother is axe-murdered in their living room. Lisa’s step-sister Taffy, played by the effervescent Liza Soberano, is always there to offer support, but the only one who can fill Lisa’s heart is a guy who died in 1837 (Cole Sprouse). One night, Lisa’s fantasy becomes a reality when a lightning bolt reanimates his corpse, kicking off a joyfully horrific adventure to help him regain his humanity — and his missing body parts.

With Lisa Frankenstein now in theaters nationwide, Newton took the time to join me for a Collider Ladies Night interview to revisit her journey thus far, including the pivotal moments that helped her tackle this delightfully bonkers monster movie with confidence.

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One of the greatest joys at a film festival is meeting an artist for the first time and knowing with certainty that, from that point on, you’ll always prioritize their work. I’ve been lucky enough to have a number of those encounters over the years, but two especially memorable ones are Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Aaron Pierre. I first met Harrison Jr. at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival for Luce, and for Pierre it was at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival for Brother, both breathtaking performances in exceptional films. In addition to the fact that both are bursting at the seams with talent, Harrison Jr. and Pierre are also artists who clearly ooze with deep passion and respect for the craft of acting. They're consistently true treats to chat with, so when the opportunity to host the very first 2-on-1 version of Collider Forces with the pair popped up, it was a must.

While in Park City for the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, Harrison Jr. and Pierre kicked off their promotional tour for Nat Geo's Genius: MLK/X. Season 4 of the award-winning anthology series stars Harrison Jr. as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Pierre as Malcolm X, delving into “their complex lives as husbands, fathers, brothers and sons.” By focusing on the moments between game-changing historical events, Genius: MLK/X offers an intimate look at how the icons questioned their resolve and decisions.

During their Collider Forces chat at the Collider interview studio at Sundance brought to you by Film.io, Harrison Jr. and Pierre revisited pivotal moments from their journeys in Hollywood thus far, highlighting some key crossover and shared experiences, but also emphasizing that every path in the industry is different.

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Reneé Rapp is one of the most exciting and inspiring forces on the rise right now in entertainment. Not only is she bubbling over with next level talent, but she also boasts a number of extremely admirable qualities, ones that can be hard for any artist to establish, let alone one just starting her career. Rapp operates with maximum conviction. She’s someone who knows what she wants, and has absolutely no problem advocating for herself. Even better? She keeps her collaborators’ best interest in mind while pursuing her own dreams.

Rapp is often in the spotlight courtesy of her flourishing music career and highly influential social media presence, but her name is in even more headlines than usual right now thanks to her feature film debut, Mean Girls. After playing Regina George on Broadway, Rapp returns to the role for the new Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. directed film. Mean Girls 2024 holds tight to the 2004 original, incorporates a slew of songs from the musical, and manages to put its own fun, fresh spin on the narrative.

In case you need the basics, Mean Girls follows homeschooled Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) after she moves back to the US from Kenya. Cady’s got absolutely no clue how to navigate the high school social scene, but fortunately, Janis (Auli’i Cravalho) and Damian (Jaquel Spivey) swoop in to give Cady the lay of the land at North Shore High School, most importantly, a warning about The Plastics led by queen bee, Regina George (Rapp). Trouble is, the appeal of popularity proves too powerful. While on a secret mission to expose Regina as a “mean girl,” Cady starts to lose herself in the thrill of being at the top of the food chain and becomes a “mean girl” herself.

With Mean Girls now playing in theaters nationwide, I got the chance to have a Collider Ladies Night chat with Rapp to discuss her journey with the Mean Girls franchise and where she gets her unflappable confidence.

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Carla Gugino has been quietly amassing one of the most diverse bodies of work in Hollywood, and it’s about time that’s recognized. She’s got a disaster movie in San Andreas, loads of family-friendly adventure films including Race to Witch Mountain, Night at the Museum, and the Spy Kids movies, and she’s currently soaring in the horror space with projects like Gerald’s Game and The Haunting of Hill House. We’d be here all day if I listed everything, but do give her lengthy filmography a quick scan. I’d be willing to bet that in almost all cases, consecutive projects fall in different genres.

Just recently, Gugino got the opportunity to show off a good deal of her seemingly limitless range in a single project, The Fall of the House of Usher. The stellar new Netflix series from Mike Flanagan and the “Flanafamily” focuses on Roderick and Madeline Usher, the extremely wealthy and powerful brother-sister duo pushing Fortunato Pharmaceuticals up and up while leaving a trail of dark secrets in their wake. They think they are untouchable, but when their heirs start dying one by one, they're forced to revisit past choices and reckon with Gugino’s character, Verna, or rather, “The Raven.”

While Verna is often seen in human form, she’s not. As Gugino has explained in the past, “She’s not the devil. She’s not even evil.” She added, “You could say she’s the executor of fate or the executor of karma.” Just before their death, each Usher sees a manifestation of Verna, and each version is different. It’s a one-of-a-kind challenge and Gugino absolutely soars while tackling it, so much so that she was just honored with a Critics Choice Nomination for Best Actress in a Limited Series.

In honor of that accolade, the success of The Fall of the House of Usher, and everything Gugino’s accomplished in film and television thus far, she joined me for a Collider Ladies Night conversation and offered up a closer look at how she did what many strive to do in Hollywood — avoid being “boxed in” and build a career with a wealth of unique creative opportunities.

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During our Collider Ladies Night interview, Maura Tierney emphasized that the role of Doris in The Iron Claw “was not an easy role,” which is plain to see in the finished product for a multitude of reasons. Not only is the new A24 film based on a staggeringly tragic true story, but, as a supporting actor in the movie, Tierney is also in a position where she must justify a number of a significant choices her character makes within a high-pressure family dynamic with minimal screen time. She does just that in the movie, delivering a performance that’s brimming with effective subtlety and subtext.

The Iron Claw is inspired by the true story of the Von Erich family. They’re Texas professional wrestling royalty with their sights set on rising even higher in the sport, a goal that’s dashed by a string of deeply gut-wrenching personal tragedies.

With The Iron Claw now playing in theaters nationwide, Tierney took the time to join me for a Collider Ladies Night interview to revisit her journey from early unforgettable credits including NewsRadio and ER to joining the cast of one of A24’s most anticipated releases of the year.

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We started the Pre-Party branch of Collider Ladies Night for artists like Aria Mia Loberti. The show is designed to highlight newer filmmakers who are undeniable stars and are bound to soar in this industry while changing it for the better both in front of and behind the lens. That is Loberti.

Loberti is in the midst of celebrating her first professional acting role ever, a performance that earned her a Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series nomination at the Independent Spirit Awards. She leads the Netflix limited series All the Light We Cannot See as Marie-Laure LeBlanc, a blind French teenager who flees German-occupied Paris with her father (Mark Ruffalo) to live with her uncle (Hugh Laurie) in St. Malo where he transmits secret radio broadcasts as part of the resistance. When her father fails to return home, Marie continues the broadcasts herself, transmissions that continue to be highly valuable to the resistance and also serve as opportunities for Marie to try to reconnect with her father.

In celebration of her work in All the Light We Cannot See, Loberti joined me for a Collider Ladies Night Pre-Party conversation to explain how she scored the role of a lifetime and how the series has given her an incredibly strong foundation as she moves forward with her wildly promising career in Hollywood. 

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Kate Siegel is a Collider Ladies Night favorite for a multitude of reasons. Just to name a few, she’s wildly talented, does exceptionally thoughtful and detailed backstory work, and she values the opportunity to build a filmmaking community and lift others up through it. She’s been doing all of that for years now, but as the Flanafamily grows and as her individual star rises higher and higher, there is no doubt she’ll become an even stronger force in boosting high-quality, bold storytelling made by good, talented people.

The most recent example of Siegel being a key part of such a production is The Fall of the House of Usher. Created by Mike Flanagan and directed by Flanagan and Michael Fimognari, the series focuses on the Fortunato Pharmaceuticals empire run by siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher (Bruce Greenwood and Mary McDonnell). Having always operated as though the Usher family is untouchable, Roderick and Madeline are shocked when their empire starts to crumble as the members of the Usher dynasty are killed off one by one.

With The Fall of the House of Usher available to watch on Netflix and beginning its awards season run, racking up three acting nominations at the Critics Choice Awards, Siegel was kind enough to take the time to return to Collider Ladies Night and offer up additional insight into her journey in Hollywood thus far. 

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It’s not easy to steer clear of getting boxed in to one particular thing in Hollywood, but Shelley Hennig has done that especially well, amassing a body of work that ranges from a soap opera to horror to extreme action-comedy with her brand new Netflix series Obliterated.

The show comes from Cobra Kai creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, and stars Hennig as Ava Winters, a CIA operative in the midst of a very tense and dangerous mission to track down a nuclear threat in Las Vegas. When she finally manages to lead her team to victory, they encourage her to treat herself and enjoy some Las Vegas debauchery. She reluctantly agrees and out they go, indulging in a hefty dose of sex, drugs, and alcohol. With a wide variety of substances coursing through them, they get a call from their superior. The bomb they deactivated was a fake, and they have to get right back to work. And so they do — extremely drunk and/or high.

With Obliterated now available to stream on Netflix, Hennig joined me for a Collider Ladies Night chat to revisit her journey from becoming Miss Teen USA to headlining a hit Netflix show.

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Back in April I was watching Dexter Fletcher’s Ghosted. The majority of the movie focuses on Chris Evans and Ana de Armas’ characters, Cole and Sadie, but at the beginning of the film, there’s a delightful short sequence that unfolds at Cole’s family home. That sequence includes some pitch-perfect interactions between Evans and the actor playing his sister — someone I was unfamiliar with at the time.

About four months later, I began my Gen V journey and was instantly taken by the entire cast, but especially by the actor playing Emma. Who was it? It was the same artist. It’s Lizze Broadway.

Broadway shoulders one of the most complex storylines in The Boys spin-off series. Emma is a supe with the ability to get small, but in order to do so, she must purge to shrink to the size of an ant and then eat to grow tall again. Constant body image monitoring and pressure from her own mother leaves Emma with a warped perception of the value of her powers and feeling “unlovable, gross and ugly.” However, Broadway makes it abundantly clear that Emma is bubbling over with heart, strength and immense potential, and while the character doesn’t get to live happily ever after at the end of Season 1 of Gen V, she certainly has begun a journey of finding and embracing self-worth, and understanding how she influences others for the better.

There were a number of shows I was eager to circle back to via Collider Ladies Night when SAG-AFTRA reached a tentative deal with the AMPTP. One was Gen V, and while I’d love to chat with every member of this wildly talented ensemble in the future, Broadway was at the top of the list. An actor who truly burst onto the scene with natural screen presence, an infectious energy, and the ability to make the most of every ounce of her range as an actor, crushing Emma’s mic drop one-liners and commanding the screen in one of Gen V’s most emotionally devastating scenes.

It was an honor to have Broadway on Collider Ladies Night (her first interview ever!) to learn more about her journey to Hollywood and how she wound up delivering a scene-stealing performance in the hit Prime Video show.

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It isn’t snagging a breakout role in a major Hollywood film, but once you do, the pressure doesn’t stop there. Picking the right follow-up projects, ones that allow an actor to continue honing their craft while also further solidifying the artist one wants to present to the industry, is of the utmost importance. That’s the phase we find Rachel Zegler in. After delivering a staggeringly beautiful debut feature performance in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, it's on to a beloved franchise, a remake of a Disney classic, and an A24 comedy.

The first out of the gate for that trio is The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The role of Lucy Gray Baird is a massive challenge to take on for a number of reasons. First off, Zegler must follow in the footsteps of Jennifer Lawrence who delivered impeccable work as Katniss Everdeen in the original Hunger Games movies. Not only must Zegler take up the mantle of Hunger Games lead, but she’s doing so with a character with an especially bubbly personality who very much walks to the beat of her own drum. Zegler was tasked with capturing Lucy Gray’s infectious song and spirit, but without ever undermining the severity of the situation she finds herself in, and Zegler absolutely nails it.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes takes place 64 years before Katniss volunteers for the 74th Hunger Games. The 10th Hunger Games is a wholly different spectacle. The Capitol has yet to develop its hi-tech arena, hovercrafts, and disturbing array of cruel mutts. Instead, the tributes are starving, the bloodbath unfolds in an old stone arena, and they struggle to get Capitol citizens to watch. However, this year could be different because this time around, the tributes have mentors. When a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) is assigned to mentor District 12’s Lucy Gray, he’s determined to get her to capture the hearts of Capitol citizens just like she did his, via song and simply being a ray of light in horrible situation.

With The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes now playing in theaters nationwide, and already racking up $44 million at the domestic box office, Zegler took the time to join me for a Collider Ladies Night conversation to discuss her goals as she continues to carve her path in Hollywood.

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There’s one department the Marvel Cinematic Universe is especially consistent in -- casting. And that’s in large part due to the brilliant eye of longtime franchise casting director Sarah Finn. She’s been with the series since 2008’s Iron Man and has been sending careers soaring ever since. One of her latest A+ finds? The effervescent star of Ms. Marvel and now The Marvels, Iman Vellani.

There is no better fit for the role of Kamala Khan than Vellani. As an extremely passionate Marvel fan herself, she has effortlessly infused Kamala with an infectious enthusiasm for everything Avengers. Yes, she did experience quite the evolution in Ms. Marvel after discovering she’s a superpowered individual herself, but she still has a lot of growing to do while facing her biggest test yet in Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels where Kamala is challenged to hold her own alongside two wildly powerful MCU forces, Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau and Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel. 

With The Marvels now in theaters nationwide and with SAG-AFTRA reaching a tentative deal with the AMPTP, Vellani was able to join us for an episode of Collider Ladies Night to revisit her journey scoring the role of her dreams and how Kamala’s evolved since.

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It’s been far too long since we’ve seen a movie like Bottoms — and in some respects, we’ve never seen anything quite like it. Sure, we’ve seen some recent high school comedies that venture into ranch territory, but Bottoms jumps feet first into that zone without even an ounce of hesitation, and once there, delivers non-stop hilarity while also deconstructing the high school comedy classic and highlighting what the formula’s been missing (and often getting wrong) all these years.

Emma Seligman's sophomore feature reunites her with Shiva Baby's Rachel Sennott who stars in Bottoms and also co-wrote the screenplay alongside Seligman. Sennott headlines Bottoms with The Bear breakout Ayo Edebiri playing PJ and Josie respectively, the “ugly, untalented gays” of Rockbridge Falls High School. Eager to get with the girls of their dreams, PJ and Josie start a new school club — a fight club. What begins as an extremely bold move to get cheerleaders to notice them turns into a community that gives school outcasts a sense of belonging and ignites a ferocious fire to stand up for themselves.

Bottoms is an Emma Seligman and Rachel Sennott movie. There’s no other creative duo who could have brought this concept to screen quite this way, and the folks at Brownstone Productions and Orion Pictures knew it. With Bottoms now playing in theater nationwide, Seligman joined me for a Collider Ladies Night interview to recap her journey in the industry thus far and to discuss how she found the perfect creative partners for the film, ones who believed in her vision and her ability to execute it her way.

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A “private creator” no more. After spending a good deal of time developing ideas and keeping them to herself, Molly Gordon makes her feature film writing, directing, and producing debut on Theater Camp, an achievement that will hopefully pave the way to continued work behind the lens with original ideas.

Gordon shares her writing and producing credit on the film with longtime friends and collaborators Ben Platt, Noah Galvin, and Nick Lieberman, and also co-directs alongside Lieberman. Inspired by their short film of the same name, the feature version of Theater Camp focuses on a group of teachers deeply dedicated to their work at AdirondACTS, a theater camp in upstate New York. Right in the midst of some financial trouble, the camp’s founder (Amy Sedaris) falls into a coma and her “clueless tech-bro” son, Jimmy Tatro’s Troy, is put in charge. The camp’s only hope is for the teachers to help Troy understand what they love so much about camp and theater in general, but while evolving AdirondACTS traditions to encourage even more to share that passion.

In celebration of Theater Camp’s theatrical release, Gordon joined me for a Collider Ladies Night interview to retrace her steps from her earliest inspirations to hitting the point where she’s confident in being unapologetically herself when tackling a project.

[NOTE: This interview was recorded on July 11, 2023.]

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Avy Kaufman didn’t move to New York City with big screen ambitions, but one thing led to another, and she wound up becoming one of the most successful and prolific casting directors in Hollywood. 

She cast Leonardo DiCaprio in The Basketball Diaries and Haley Joel Osment in his unforgettable one-two punch, The Sixth Sense and A.I. Artificial Intelligence. She’s worked on a number of films with Ang Lee and two films with the legendary Wes Craven, Music of the Heart and Scream 4. If we jump to her most recent credits, the list is loaded with Oscar contenders and winners like Tár, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, King Richard, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and more.

Kaufman’s had great success with the series format as well having cast a number of acclaimed Emmy-winning shows, but there’s one series in particular that’s been an especially significant force during awards season the last few years, a show that will likely go down in history as one of the best shows ever made. It’s HBO’s Succession.

While celebrating her third Emmy nomination for the series, Kaufman took the time to join me for a Collider Ladies Night conversation to revisit some of the key experiences that paved the way to casting Succession.

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There are a number of artists having big years right now but, dare I say, Ayo Edebiri is having one of the best of the bunch. Not only did she just score her first Emmy nomination for her work in Season 1 of The Bear, but she’s also exceptional in the recently released second season of the hit series and has three stellar films coming out back to back to back — Theater Camp, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, and Bottoms.

Hopefully you’ve seen Molly Gordon’s episode of Collider Ladies Night and Noah Galvin’s episode of Collider Forces in honor of the release of Theater Camp, but just in case you need a refresher, the Searchlight Pictures film focuses on a theater camp struggling to stay afloat after its founder falls into a coma. Edebiri steps in as Janet, a new teacher at camp working amidst a group of AdirondACTS diehards who’ve spent their summers there for years. The film delivers big laughs as it pokes fun at camp clichés, but it also rocks a powerful beating heart that celebrates what a special experience it can be, especially when that love is shared with newcomers.

On August 25th, brace yourself for Bottoms. It’s a coming-of-age comedy that doesn’t hold back in the least, delivering consistent laughs and shocking story beats via an irresistible ensemble, a combination that not only sparks the itch for repeat viewings but could ultimately turn the film into a raunchy high school comedy classic. Edebiri stars opposite longtime friend and collaborator Rachel Sennott as Josie and PJ, two unpopular high school students eager to hook up with cheerleaders. How do they go about doing that? By starting a female fight club, and it actually works.

And finally, we have Edebiri’s new movie hitting theaters nationwide this weekend, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem in which she takes over the iconic role of April. Edebiri’s version of the character has had enough of being dubbed “puke girl.” She wants her peers at Eastman High to respect her, and she might have found the perfect way to make that happen — by teaming up with the Ninja Turtles. Turns out, the Turtles also just want to fit in. If the Turtles can save the city by stopping Superfly and April can break the story, they might all wind up being accepted and respected.

Clearly Edebiri’s career is skyrocketing at the moment, but it took some time and legwork to get there, and she took a moment to recap some of that journey on an episode of Collider Ladies Night.

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Noah Galvin continues to show off his boundless potential as an actor and also as a filmmaker and storyteller in general with Theater Camp. He’s already found great success on stage and screen, and now he also adds two brand-new credits to his filmography because Theater Camp marks his very first time writing and producing a feature film.

Inspired by the short film of the same name, Theater Camp takes place at AdirondACTS, a theater camp in upstate New York. When its founder (Amy Sedaris) falls into a coma, her son Troy (Jimmy Tatro) must take over even though he knows absolutely nothing about the longstanding traditions that make a summer at AdirondACTS a deeply cherished experience.

With Theater Camp now in theaters nationwide, Galvin took the time to join me for an episode of Collider Forces to look back on his journey in the industry thus far and to discuss the highly collaborative on-set environment that helped make Theater Camp a true gem oozing with love and respect for the theater camp experience — and for stage managers as well.

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It can’t be easy joining a franchise in its seventh installment and holding your own opposite an industry juggernaut like Tom Cruise, but Hayley Atwell still winds up being a major standout in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One.

The new M:I film introduces Atwell’s Grace, or rather “Grace,” a thief who finds herself in the middle of Ethan’s (Cruise) mission to track down both halves of a key needed to control a self-aware artificial intelligence program called The Entity. That mission lands Grace in a Fiat 500 with a mind of its own, on a train plummeting into a ravine, and in a number of other mighty dangerous situations. 

Not only is Atwell an ace in the stunt department, but she also finds great success in bringing a hugely charming, well-layer, and complex character to screen in the midst of all of this mind-blowing action. It’s a performance feat that makes Grace feel real and contributes to keeping Dead Reckoning Part One somewhat grounded, which ups the suspense of the film tenfold.

With Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One now playing in theaters, Atwell took the time to join me for an episode of Collider Ladies Night. We discussed formative experiences when first beginning her journey as an actor, including an extremely valuable two-week internship with a casting director, her take on making network television after working on Agent Carter, and then jumped into some Mission: Impossible specifics.

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I wasn’t especially familiar with Liza Koshy’s work on Vine, YouTube, and other social media platforms the first time I covered one of her feature films, but that certainly changed after our brief chat for her summer 2020 release, Work It. A big ball of infectious energy and positivity, it was immediately clear that Koshy’s star was going to continue to soar, and also that she’d be an ideal guest on Collider Ladies Night. Three years later, the time has finally come, and not only did she not disappoint, she far exceeded Ladies Night expectations.

Koshy voices Margot in DreamWorks Animation’s Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, the human best friend of the title character voiced by Lana Condor. When Ruby discovers she can transform into a gigantic kraken, she does what far too many high school students do with a quality that makes them different; she goes to great lengths to keep it a secret, even from her very understanding and supportive BFFs. However, when the new girl at school, Chelsea (voiced by Annie Murphy), turns out to be an evil mermaid with the power to destroy her hometown, Ruby knows exactly what she needs to do to keep her friends and family safe — fully unleash the kraken.

With Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken now playing in theaters nationwide, Koshy joined me for a Ladies Night chat to recap her journey from becoming a Vine powerhouse to a full-blown movie star, amassing a considerable filmography a mere 10 years into her time in Los Angeles.

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Greta Lee’s already accomplished quite a bit over the years, but 2023 is shaping up to be a banner year. Not only is she in Julio Torres’ feature directorial debut Problemista, but she also voices LYLA in the smash hit Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and leads the awards season-bound Past Lives from A24.

Lee plays Nora in Celine Song’s first feature. As a child (Moon Seung-ah) living in South Korea, she's deeply connected to her closest friend, Hae Sung (Leem Seung-min). But, that connection is severed when Nora’s family emigrates. Many years later while living in New York, Nora does reconnect with Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), but only virtually. Their in-person reunion doesn't happen until a decade later when Nora is married to an American author, Arthur played by John Magaro.

It’s a love triangle like you’ve never seen before, one that redefines what such a story can be. Past Lives respects the very real and deeply meaningful love one can have for two people in such a situation, while also emphasizing the importance of prioritizing self as well. Song explores that emotional complexity with a stunning sensitivity that well highlights Lee’s magnetic performance, a performance that’s already earned significant acclaim but could and should be heading towards even more later this year and into 2024.

With the movie now playing in theaters nationwide, Lee joined me for a Collider Forces conversation to retrace her steps in the industry the far.

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As the role of present-day Lottie demands, Simone Kessell made a huge impression on Yellowjackets in her debut season.

Season 1 introduced the 1996 version of the character played by Courtney Eaton, but viewers were left wondering whether Lottie would make it through the wilderness ordeal alive until Kessell’s casting was announced between seasons. Ultimately, present-day Lottie becomes a significant driving force of the show. She’s the one who encouraged the Yellowjackets to start listening to the wilderness and respect its voice in the past, and now she’s pursuing similar ambitions but on a larger scale via her very own wellness compound.

At the start of Season 2, Lottie isn’t preaching about the power of the wilderness but rather, offering activities and sermons that encourage “turning suffering into strength so we can live as our best selves.” Lottie starts the season sound and steady with confidence and authority, but as more surviving Yellowjackets arrive at the compound, the more Lottie starts to lose herself to the trauma she was subjected to in the wilderness.

With Yellowjackets in the spotlight courtesy of a significant amount of well-deserved Emmy season hype, Kessell took the time to join me for a Collider Ladies Night conversation to recap her journey playing Lottie thus far, including her heartbreaking downward spiral.

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Amber Midthunder is a movie star. She’s already made a big impression in a number of projects, but an especially significant amount of Prey rests on her shoulders. She’s the beating heart of a powerful character arc, the focus of a number of very challenging set pieces, and is tasked with headlining a brand new installment of one of the most beloved sci-fi franchises out there. She exceeds expectations in all of those respects and then some in the newest Predator movie, Prey.

Midthunder plays Naru, a young Comanche woman who’s a very talented healer, but dreams of becoming a great hunter alongside her brother, Taabe (Dakota Beavers). Despite pushback from her mother (Michelle Thrush), other hunters, and village expectations, Naru commits to tracking down the mysterious threat that lurks in the woods nearby. Little does she know, this creature isn’t a bear or a ferocious lion, but rather, an alien that hunts for sport. It’s a Yautja, or rather, a Predator.  

Prey isn’t just an exceptional Predator movie; it’s an exceptional movie, period, one deserving of the attention it’s getting this Emmy season. With Prey firmly in the mix to snag some nominations, Midthunder joined me for a Collider Forces interview to recap her journey as an actor thus far, and to put the spotlight on how Prey could serve as a model for better representation in film and television.

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Another season of Yellowjackets, another Emmy nomination-worthy performance from Christina Ricci as one of the show's most complex characters, Misty Quigley.

Ricci returns to Collider Ladies Night to recap her experience working on the second season of the hit Showtime series. Check out this video interview to get her take on how much Misty remembers about what happened in the wilderness, if Misty believes anything supernatural is really going on, why Karyn Kusama was the ideal director for the Season 2 finale, and more!

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While on Collider Ladies Night, Barry star Sarah Goldberg revisits her experience making the pivot from script to screen, and scoring a breakout role with Barry's Sally Reed.

Check out this interview to hear all about her collaboration with Bill Hader and the Barry crew, to find out which Season 4 scene she dubbed the toughest to film of the entire series, to get her thoughts on Sally's final scenes in the Barry series finale, and loads more!

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Christa Miller is no stranger to hugely successful TV shows. She appeared on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Seinfeld, did over 180 episodes on The Drew Carey Show, over 80 on Scrubs, over 100 on Cougar Town, and now she’s a standout on an Apple TV+ gem, a series gearing up for what will hopefully be quite the awards season run, Shrinking.

The series was co-created by Bill Lawrence, Brett Goldstein, and Jason Segel with Segel also starring as Jimmy Laird, a therapist struggling with the death of his wife. That means Jimmy hasn’t been the responsible, attentive parent he needs to be for his daughter, Alice (Lucite Maxwell). But, that’s where Miller’s Liz comes in. She’s the Lairds’ neighbor and the person who winds up taking responsibility for Alice when she needs support and an active guardian. Liz has a massive heart and many assets, but stepping back isn’t one of them, so Jimmy finally starts to make moves to put his life back together and reconnect with Alice, Liz isn’t quite ready to hand the reins over.

In celebration of Shrinking’s acclaimed first season, Miller joined me for a Collider Ladies Night chat to recap the path she took in the industry and discuss her approach to playing Liz on Shrinking. Enjoy!

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It’s been less than two years since Daniela Melchior broke out in Hollywood with the release of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, but she’s already part of three of the biggest film franchises of all time — DC and now Marvel thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and the Fast and Furious series after making her debut as Isabel in Fast X.

In Guardians, Melchior got a role that Gunn wrote specifically for her — Ura, the OrgoCorp employee forced/compelled/conned into helping the Guardians on their mission to steal Rocket’s file from the Orgosphere. Then, in Fast X, Melchior steps in as a character related to a past favorite. She plays Isabel, Elena’s (Elsa Pataky) sister.

With both movies now playing in theaters nationwide, Melchior returned to Collider Ladies Night for another interview to dig into this next stage of her flourishing career.

Note: There are a few audio glitches in this episode due to filming virtually.

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Collider Forces is all about highlighting artists who are changing film and television for the better. Do you know who’s having that kind of impact on the industry? Someone who’s made such a significant impression that we can already see the ripple effect she started? Director and cinematographer, Rachel Morrison, the first woman to ever score a cinematography Academy Award nomination.

In celebration of Morrison’s work as a director on Season 3 of The Mandalorian, she joined me for a Collider Forces interview to discuss how she managed to break through in a male-dominated sector of the industry, and then do it yet again when making a name for herself as a director in addition to continuing her work as a cinematographer.

During our Collider Forces conversation, Morrison revisited her journey from reality TV to scoring her Oscar nomination to jumping into Star Wars!

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From powering through a post-apocalyptic wasteland in Mad Max: Fury Road to trying to survive the wilderness with a group of teenagers who turn to violence and cannibalism in Yellowjackets, Courtney Eaton is loading up her filmography with ambitious projects, and excelling in them.

Eaton quickly emerged as one of the most curious characters in Yellowjackets Season 1 playing Lottie. Soon after the plane crashes in the wilderness and Lottie runs out of her medication, the unusual behavior begins. Bad feelings about the cabin in Episode 2, a supposed possession in Episode 5, and visions in Episode 6 all pave the way to increasingly dark and occasionally violent behavior. But how much of it is her fault? Can we blame the mushrooms, the absence of Lottie’s medication, and perhaps the other Yellowjackets for warping Lottie’s words and intentions? That’s exactly what I discussed with Eaton on a brand new episode of Collider Ladies Night!

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Liv Hewson is a must-know force in film and television for a number of reasons. Not only are they a standout in the hit Showtime series Yellowjackets and an artist who exudes passion for their craft and a deep appreciation for the collaborative nature of creating a film or series, but they’re also making choices that will help pave the way to parity in the industry. It’s an honor to call Hewson the very first guest on our new interview series, Collider Forces — an interview series they helped inspire.

Collider Forces is a long overdue expansion of Collider Ladies Night, one that gives us the opportunity to include more voices. Thanks to Hewson’s work, their approach to their craft, and how they operate in this business and beyond, the recognition of a need for change was turned into action, and now we have Collider Forces, an interview series dedicated to highlighting artists in film and television who are changing the industry for the better, particularly voices that should have been amplified all along. Collider Ladies Night isn’t going anywhere, but it’s time we use that interview format to include and celebrate more creators.

During our 50-minute conversation, Hewson revisited pivotal moments from their journey as an actor thus far including important lessons learned from early mentors, coming to understand the business side of things in addition to honing their craft, and what it meant to finally be gendered correctly on a professional set after coming out as non-binary.

Hear all about that, their experience auditioning for Yellowjackets, Van's dark turn in Season 2, and more in this interview!

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Not only is it a colossal challenge trying to spark a career in film and television, but once you get there, the pressure rarely lets up. How does one manage such non-stop stressors, especially the ones that are entirely out of an artist's control? There’s no be-all, end-all answer to that question, but over the years, Katherine McNamara’s built up an especially effective and inspiring set of tools and ideas to ensure she’ll continue forging forward, and likely inspire others to do the same in the process.

McNamara joined me for a Collider Ladies Night conversation to put the spotlight on two recent projects, Charlie Day’s feature directorial debut, Fool’s Paradise, and her new CW series, Walker: Independence, which sadly was canceled the day after we recorded. Fool’s Paradise stars Day as a mute man who’s plucked off the street by Ray Liotta’s character, a producer desperate to replace an actor who won’t come out of his trailer and, it turns out, Day’s character looks exactly like this actor. As for Walker: Independence, that one was a prequel series to The CW’s Walker starring Jared Padalecki. Set in the 1800s, McNamara headlined as Abby Walker, Padalecki’s character’s ancestor. Even though The CW did cut the show after just one season, there are reports circulating that it is on the hunt for a new home.

Whether Walker: Independence continues on elsewhere or not, there’s no doubt McNamara will thrive in front of and eventually behind the lens. During our Collider Ladies Night conversation, we revisited her journey in theater, film, and television including a number of key influences she met along the way who proved pivotal in shaping her outlook on industry operations and what it means to be a strong leader and collaborator on set.

Hear all about it on this edition of Collider Ladies Night!

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Jasmin Savoy Brown’s been racking up impressive film and television credits for quite some time, but she skyrocketed to the top of the Collider Ladies Night guest bucket list in January 2022 courtesy of Scream.

Yes, there are many pre-Scream titles of Brown’s I’d highly recommend — The Leftovers, Laggies, and Sound of Violence being major standouts — but Brown carries one particular scene in Scream that quickly became a favorite scene of the franchise, and of all-time — the scene in which Mindy explains the rules of the new movie. It’s brilliant writing, but it’s also dialogue that only works in the hands of the most adept performer, someone who’s able to play into the comedic meta nature of the franchise while also respecting the fact that the series has amassed a slew of diehard fans. “To some people, the original is their favorite thing in the world, the movie that made them love horror, that mom or dad showed them when they were 10 that bonded them together.” That right there is me, and Brown delivers that dialogue in a way that’s both playful and reverential, and also sparks a feeling that very few scenes achieve; it suddenly feels like the whole world’s melted away and Mindy is talking directly to you.

Brown cemented her place on the Collider Ladies Night guest bucket list even further with Yellowjackets. In an ensemble packed with top-notch talent, Brown shines via Taissa’s determination and tenacity, and also the infectious love and warmth between her and Van (Liv Hewson). As things get darker (and colder) in Season 2, Brown soars while exploring the physical and emotional complexity of Tai’s situation, how it’s impacting her relationship with Van, her place in the group, and the person she’s becoming.

Want yet another reason Brown’s a must-have guest on Collider Ladies Night? Since skyrocketing in Hollywood via Scream and Yellowjackets, she's using her ever-growing reach and platform to encourage positive representation. Brown’s a true force in this business, and one that’s changing it for the better, making her the ideal Collider Ladies Night guest.

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We’ve seen quite a few actors make a big impression via a first feature, but Priya Kansara does it in spectacular fashion in Polite Society. Kansara does it all in the film.

She leads as Ria, a young woman who dreams of becoming a stunt performer when she grows up. Her parents may not be wholeheartedly behind the idea, but that’s not stopping Ria. She’s determined to achieve her dream, and she’s equally determined to help her sister, Lena (Ritu Arya), achieve her dream of becoming an artist. Trouble is, Lena’s lost faith in herself. Soon after dropping out of art school, Lena finds herself on what some might consider a more traditional path, and Ria isn’t having it. Lena falls for a guy who ticks all the boxes and then some, and the two quickly become engaged. Convinced something isn’t quite right with Lena’s new beau, Ria sets out to expose him, end their relationship, and nudge Lena back on the path of putting herself first and becoming an artist.

Polite Society has a little of everything. It’s a moving coming-of-age story, a charming comedy, an electric action film, and also an emotional story of two sisters who grow apart and must find their way back to one another — and Kansara nails it all. Her energy is unmatched, her comedic timing and delivery are spot-on, she’s an ace with the stunts, and effortlessly pivots into hugely emotional beats that pack a punch. For any casting director out there, Kansara’s work in Polite Society is essentially an entire acting resume in one film. It’s a piece that shows off her boundless range and ability to tackle any challenge a production throws at her from nailing a choreographed dance to complicated fight sequences.

With Polite Society now playing in theaters nationwide, Kansara took the time to join me for a Collider Ladies Night Pre-Party interview to revisit how she scored her first lead role in a feature film.

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