Backstage Magazine, Digital Edition: August 18, 2025

Emmys Voting Guide 2025

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Seth Rogen’s

Golden The hardest-working guy in Hollywood gets his due

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Contents

08.18.25 VOL.66, NO. 09

FEATURES 4 CATCHING UP WITH Jason Isaacs 6 WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TV MOVIE MOJO? The category now occupies a quieter space in the awards conversation 8 IN CHARACTER Tom Pelphrey on mastering a Delco accent for “Task” 12 THE ESSENTIALISTS Kathleen Felix-Hager, “Hacks” costume designer 14 IN THE ENVELOPE Cristin Milioti’s villain era

COVER STORY

FUNNY BUSINESS

16 MEET THE MAKER Kim Rosenstock, “Dying for Sex” co-creator + co-showrunner

How Seth Rogen’s comedy hustle became the talk of the town

18 B REAKING THROUGH Lightning strikes for Isaac Ordonez on “Wednesday” 20 IN THE ROOM WITH Kate Rhodes James

PAGE 22

30 EMMYS VOTING GUIDE 2025 Time to decide which performances deserve your vote

ADVICE 10 C AREER DISPATCH “Abbott Elementary” star William Stanford Davis on mentoring actors 36 ASK AN EXPERT What CDs really want in comedy auditions Seth Rogen photographed

by Shayan Asgharnia on July 22 in Los Angeles.

Styling by Wendi & Nicole with assistance from Grant Grosch.

Grooming by Kristen Shaw.

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has the Most Emmy -Nominated Cast of the Year ®

“An impressive ensemble” COLLIDER

Seth Rogen

Ike Barinholtz

Catherine O’Hara

Kathryn Hahn

Bryan Cranston

Dave Franco

Ron Howard

Zoë Kravitz

Anthony Mackie

Martin Scorsese

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● BACKSTAGE 5

What initially drew you to “The White Lotus”?

Tim goes from having everything to having nothing, to wanting to die, to wanting to kill the people he loves, to having a spiritual redemption— and you don’t get that very often. This was going to take me to a very uncomfortable place in a way that I crave.

How did you find the audition process?

Fucking awful. [Laughs] I don’t audition much because people ask me to do things they’ve seen me do before, which are never the things you want to do.

So it’s great to be asked to play something unfamiliar.

But I haven’t gotten any better at not projecting an air of panic. I always want another take, thinking one more might persuade them. So it was anxietyinducing—and made a lot worse by producer David Bernad telling me beforehand that I was the only person reading so I shouldn’t feel worried.

“ I do as much research as possible—and then I forget absolutely everything.”

You went to school to be a lawyer, but when did you know you wanted to be an actor?

CATCHING UP WITH

JASON ISAACS

By Derek Lawrence

J

ASON ISAACS HAS A BONE TO PICK WITH “THE

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Do you have a specific approach to your preparation?

I do as much research as possible—and then I forget absolutely everything.

Don’t plan anything. Cross out all the words in the script that tell you what the [character’s] feeling.

Arrive as an empty vessel.

On set, it might look like I’m the most amateur person there, because I’ll be joking around, trying to stay loose, and I often don’t know the words very well. I’ve got the sides in my hand, but I don’t want to know every word.

I want to be reaching for it, finding it. And I certainly don’t want to know what I’m going to do in the scene until I feel alive in the moment with the other actors.

So my preparation is to prepare everything except the scene, and to have no idea whether I’m going to cry, laugh, or be indifferent.

Some days you can’t find it, and it’s the risk you take.

What performance should every actor watch?

Don’t watch any performances. Watch documentaries. Watch life.

Watch people. Don’t ever watch another actor to [find] what you should do.

Find real life as inspiration and let that seep in.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

DAVID REISS

White Lotus” creator Mike White. On Season 3 of the HBO drama, the British actor stars as wealthy North Carolina businessman Timothy Ratliff, who learns during a family vacation in Thailand that prison likely awaits him upon his return home.

Isaacs has earned his first Emmy nomination for the role.

So what’s his issue with White?

“I’ve complained to Mike a few times that he’s fucked me, because I keep waiting for something as good as his writing to arrive in my inbox,” Isaacs says. “Everything else pales in comparison.”

I still don’t know! Three weeks into university, I auditioned for a play, only because I was drunk and saw a sign saying, “Can you do a northern accent?”

And from the very first second, I thought, This is the most stimulating, honest thing I’ve ever done.

When it was time to leave university, I still wasn’t going to do it for a job, but people were auditioning for drama schools, and I’m quite competitive. I went for a recall [at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama], and a very tall, well-spoken woman said, “We’d like you to come here.” I was absolutely gobsmacked and didn’t know what to

say. She suddenly went very red-faced and said, “I hope you’re not fucking us around, young man.

Thousands of people apply for these fucking places.”

I was so thrown that I said, “No, of course not.”

I left and thought to myself: Have I just changed the course of the rest of my life because it’s what I want to do, or because a posh woman said “fuck” at me twice? Forty years later, I’m not sure.

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WHERE THE C O N V E R S AT I O N HAPPENS

THE GREEN ROOM

Awards

What Happened to the TV Movie Mojo?

Once a cornerstone of Emmy prestige, the category now occupies a quieter space in the awards conversation

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Sally Field in “Sybil” (1976, dir.

Daniel Petrie)

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Amanda Reyes, host of the “Made for TV Mayhem” podcast. Reyes is also the author of “Are You in the House Alone? A TV Movie Compendium: 1964–1999,” which examines the phenomenon of the “movie of the week.”

“Prior to that, there were stand-alone things being aired, but a lot of them were attached to anthology shows, like ‘Playhouse 90,’ until they made a pilot called ‘Fame Is the Name of the Game’ [starring Anthony Franciosa] that exploded,” she explains. “Then producers were like, ‘Oh, we can make TV movie pilots. If we do this, we don’t have to pay for a theatrical license. It’s actually cheaper to produce a TV movie, and we own the content.’ And so networks started buying into this.”

Reyes brings up possibly the most heralded TV movie of all time: Steven Spielberg’s thrilling 1971 classic “Duel”— about a man being terrorized by a semi-truck (and its murderous unseen driver)—a film that made such an impression on viewers that it enjoyed a healthy theatrical run after airing, and spawned countless imitators.

The television movie model

LORIMAR TELEVISION

BACK IN THE 1970s, before we all TikToked and tweeted, the water cooler wasn’t just bubbling about the latest hit series riding the cultural wave.

Another fictional form was causing a splash: made-for-TV movies. They had big themes, cast big names, and pulled in big ratings. You could watch Sally Field play a woman with multiple personalities in “Sybil,” or get a good cry going with James Caan and Billy Dee Williams as football player besties in “Brian’s Song.”

Millions watched, and these films were released for decades with that word “prestige” often attached.

Nowadays, the TV movie has moved to streaming platforms, all but vanishing from the big four networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox). The Emmy Awards’ long-standing made for television category has become a home for films whose respective buyers bypassed theatrical release, despite the fact that the projects often star a bevy of decorated award winners and nominees.

What changed?

“In 1964, there was a movie called ‘See How They Run’ [starring John Forsythe], and it’s widely considered the first made-for-TV movie,” says

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“DUEL”: BFA/ALAMY; “THE DAY AFTER”: UNITED ARCHIVES GMBH

By Jason Clark

category, Outstanding Television Movie, often considered out of date and in need of a rebranding— basically a receptacle for streamers who did not have faith in their film’s box office.

Take this year’s newly anointed lineup, for example, which includes one HBO stalwart, “Mountainhead,” from “Succession” creator Jesse Armstrong, and four streaming

LORIMAR TELEVISION

“DUEL”: BFA/ALAMY; “THE DAY AFTER”: UNITED ARCHIVES GMBH

Posters for “Duel” (1971, dir. Steven Spielberg) and “The Day After” (1983, dir. Nicholas Meyer)

became a force to be reckoned with. Networks started to compete with cinemas on star quality and production values, and those ad dollars meant they could keep churning out these films. Before corporate consolidation, networks maintained tighter control of their content. But as the years wore on, newly viable formats such as reality TV and ondemand streaming settled into living rooms nationwide, and the “movie of the week” started to go the way of the Edsel.

The TV movie category was created in 1966 (the first winner was a Shakespeare solo effort starring John Gielgud called “Ages of Man”); however, it was not actually called Outstanding Made for Television Movie until 1992. Before that, it had category titles like Outstanding Dramatic Program, Outstanding Single Program for a Drama or Comedy, or Outstanding Drama or backstage.com

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Comedy Special. But it always contained hot-button-topic fare, ranging from nuclear fallout (1983’s “The Day After”) to domestic abuse (1984’s “The Burning Bed”) to abortion rights (1989’s “Roe vs. Wade”).

Even before social media and the internet, the controversial content tapped into the zeitgeist.

“What the original old TV movies did was make [us] appreciate methodical pacing,” says Reyes. “The subtext was more coded and embedded into the film, whereas in a lot of movies, they spell it out.

The subtext is hidden because they had to get it through the networks.” These days, streamers contain very few guardrails with regard to profanity, sexuality, or violence, so subtext can now exist merely as…text.

Which brings us to today’s

movies: Netflix’s “Nonnas” and “Rebel Ridge,” Peacock’s “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,” and Apple TV+’s “The Gorge.”

All of the nominated films, with their pedigree, audience appeal, and marketability, would have been cinema-ready in another era, but now they’re directed to streaming platforms and released quietly with limited fanfare. (Only the crime drama “Rebel Ridge” seems to have notable heat, thanks to sustained social media buzz by genre appreciators.) And because streamers do not reveal their viewer data as readily as a box

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office report, there’s no ironclad confirmation on how many people are watching.

“If a TV movie aired in the ’70s and only got 10 million viewers, it would be a bomb, and people would have laughed it off TV,” notes Reyes, who believes those event movies created common bonds in a way that today’s fragmented viewing landscape cannot. “TV movies are still really popular, like all the Christmas movies that come out every year through Hallmark—they’re huge.

They’re very low-budget, and I don’t think they’re ever going to get nominated for anything, but they’re still bringing lots of people together.

“There’s still community, but it’s just different,” she continues.

“And I don’t know if it’s as big as it used to be. It’s not as commonplace. I feel like if [networks] just let go of certain demographics and started thinking about the audience that they do have, they would probably do a lot better [at getting those conversations going again].”

But as recent excitement levels have told us, appointment television is a hot commodity again. Here are the four mostnominated series at the Emmys this year: “Severance,” “The Penguin,” “The Studio,” and “The White Lotus”—what is their common denominator?

All of them drop episodes weekly, proving people need a little breathing room between the mayhem.

As Reyes suggests, networks could tap their existing star power from hit TV shows and build special-event movies around them. Or if all else fails, maybe Spielberg can re-rejuvenate the TV movie of the week, much like he did with “Duel,” before also creating the blockbuster blueprint with “Jaws” four years later. “You’ve got to make up your minds.

Gonna stay alive and ante up?” as the wise Captain Quint asked in that classic—it might just be the jolt of inspiration the networks need now.

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THE GREEN ROOM In Character

Tom Pelphrey Expands The star of “Task” on why actors must keep growing—in craft, creativity, and collaboration

By Suzy Woltmann

●

TOM PELPHREY doesn’t play it safe.

The Emmy-nominated actor gravitates toward morally complex characters and the liminal areas of human experience. He embodied the volatile desperation of antihero Ben Davis on Netflix’s “Ozark” and navigated the machinations of real-life fugitive Jason Derek Brown in Matthew Gentile’s “American Murderer.” His most recent role, as family man–turned–violent criminal Robbie Prendergrast, only adds to his roster of powerfully nuanced performances.

HBO’s limited series “Task,” premiering Sept. 7, follows Robbie as he and FBI agent Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo) become locked on a collision course that’s nothing short of explosive. Unfolding in the same Pennsylvania workingclass landscape as creator Brad Ingelsby’s award-winning “Mare of Easttown,” “Task” tells a story in which law enforcement and criminals are bound by a common thread: the lengths they’ll go to secure their families’ futures.

Here, Pelphrey discusses the process of building his character and why actors should “just keep expanding.”

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Do you have any final insights or advice for actors?

Just keep going. If this is what you love, and this is what you want to do, and this is what you’re obsessed with—and [acting] does take a little bit of that obsession—the important thing is, don’t quit. Always try and be learning. If you can’t be in class, watch things that are good, and think about why they’re good. If you’re not getting auditions, pick some material for yourself, get your phone, film yourself doing it, then watch and learn.

Open your heart and expand your mind! Feel more things; experience more things. Grow your heart and compassion and intellect so that when it comes time to play a complex role, you have things to understand. You can always shrink yourself down, but you can’t make yourself bigger. Part of our job is to just keep expanding. It’s a hard thing, but we’re chasing something that we love, and that’s a beautiful thing in and of itself.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

PETER KRAMER/HBO

What kind of prep did you do for “Task,” and, in particular, how’d you nail that Delco accent?

We had a fantastic accent coach, and she would give me sound clips and [advice on]

changes. Eventually what I had to do was take all the rules I was learning, call [a Delaware County local], and hear where the rules apply. He knew I was listening for the sounds, but we both love football, so we could just have conversations where it wasn’t so conscious. What I found was that some of the rules applied some of the time.

I grew up in New Jersey, less than an hour from where we were filming, so the ethos and vibe of that world and those people is very much a world I grew up in.

How did you create such strong chemistry with Mark Ruffalo?

Well, he is just the loveliest human being. He is such a gentle, kind, fun, silly, generous man. He’s obviously an incredible actor, but he was so disarming in the most wonderful way, just always so lovely and open and available.

And I said, “Mark, have you always been that way?” He said, “No, no, I used to be more like you.” [Laughs] I’ve seen this in other actors as well. I think with what we do, hopefully you’re learning and growing, and you’re getting better. And as you do those things, you feel more and more comfortable in yourself—and as you feel more comfortable in yourself, there’s an ease with which you can do things that maybe wasn’t available to you before. I certainly feel that way.

Like, whatever I’m doing now to feel I’m being present in the way I need to be present to do my work is different than it was 15 years ago. It’s easier now… through repetition and learning and watching other people.

Tom Pelphrey on “Task”

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THE GREEN ROOM

‘‘ Acting isn’t about pretending; it’s real behavior in imaginary circumstances. It’s living your character’s truth and noticing the small details.”

●

Career Dispatch

I Don’t Teach, I Share

By William Stanford Davis

This essay has been edited for length.

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DALVIN ADAMS

William Stanford Davis is a veteran actor with more than three decades of experience in television and film.

He is also a dedicated mentor to students and up-and-coming performers. Davis currently stars as Mr. Johnson on Quinta Brunson’s ABC comedy “Abbott Elementary.”

I NEVER SET OUT TO BE A TEACHER. I’VE shared how having my aunt as a teacher inspired me, but that wasn’t something I saw for myself. I don’t think of what I do as teaching.

What I do is share—share what has been shared with me.

I first started helping actors two decades ago.

I was in an acting class, and I had begun to book work, and for an actor, that’s a big deal. My fellow students started asking for help, and I found I had something worth sharing.

A lot of what I share is what I learned at the Actors Studio about accessing human behavior.

Other places teach the basics, like moment-tomoment acting; but behavior—that’s what human beings do. How you place your hands, swat a fly—it’s specific to each person. You can’t “act” those things without it looking like acting. While you should be incredibly familiar with the text, behavior brings nuance and takes a performance to the next level.

I was lucky to have Martin Landau as one of my mentors. He never “taught” me anything.

He’d say, “Let me share something with you.” It always felt like a gift. He shared how experiences are filtered through our five senses. You see it, touch it, taste it, smell it, or hear it, and react. If the wind blows or there’s humming on the TV, it affects our behavior. It seems simple, but sensory reactions deepen any performance and bring subtleties that the camera catches.

When working with young actors, I share that acting has to be a 24/7 commitment. I once heard that being an actor is like being a whole other species of people. It’s true. Everything is about your craft. All your civilian decisions—going to the gym, finding a job, going to bed early or staying out late—should be in service of the work.

If you can imagine doing something else, then you should—you might not work for 10 years.

Those hard days make you stronger and more committed. But you have to love it enough to survive that.

For actors looking to refresh their work, start with how you carry yourself in the room. That’s a word I hate: room. If you call it a room, then you treat it like a room. If I’m self-taping for a scene in Chicago in the winter and it’s midnight—that ain’t a room! Step into where you are. Is it summer or winter? Is it the afternoon or the middle of the night? Are you alone, with your lover, or with your enemy? Filter through your five senses and explore who, what, where, and why. Let that ground and infuse your performance.

This is all work I still do on “Abbott Elementary.” Mr. Johnson is a 360-degree person.

His reality might be stranger than yours, but it’s real. Because of fantastic writing, I can layer the things that influence who he is. He’s worked all over the world. Under his gruff exterior, there’s kindness. He’s enigmatic, and, of course, we know he’s a conspiracy theorist who doesn’t believe the moon is real! I try to bring the reality of having those jobs and beliefs. His commitment to that reality makes him a fan favorite.

So no, I don’t teach. I share what’s been shared with me, what I’ve lived, what I’ve learned, and what I continue to discover. Acting isn’t about pretending; it’s real behavior in imaginary circumstances. It’s living your character’s truth and noticing the small details. Seeing the success of actors I’ve worked with makes every moment spent sharing worth it.

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The Essentialists

Kathleen ● Felix-Hager Costume Designer

NO MATTER WHERE “HACKS” VETERAN COMIC Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) is performing, she always seems to achieve sartorial gold.

The fourth season of the HBO Max comedy centers on Deborah hosting her own late-night talk show—her dream job— in Los Angeles; but she doesn’t stray too far from the sparkly, highend, and, yes, often metallic attire that’s dominated her Las Vegas closet since Season 1.

Meanwhile, the position of Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) as the show’s head writer sees her mixing old and new, pairing sophisticated blazers with familiar T-shirts. Other garment choices

By Emma Fraser for Ava, such as wearing a retro ’90s FC Barcelona jersey in the writers’ room or carrying a Louis Vuitton tote, were inspired by “some of the fun L.A. fashion girl things” the show’s costume designer, Kathleen Felix-Hager, saw around the city.

The Emmy Award–winning designer, who has worked on acclaimed series such as Showtime’s “Dexter” and HBO’s “Veep,” recently received her fourth Emmy nomination for “Hacks,” created by Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky. She’ll begin prepping for the show’s fifth season at the end of this month.

On the Season 4 finale—spoiler alert!—after dramatically quitting her hosting gig, Deborah struggles to find inspiration, returning to Vegas before traveling to perform in Singapore, where she cycles through old jokes and familiar glittery ensembles. “It was amazing to be in Singapore and to see Deborah melting down, and [to] try to portray her losing her mind and her depression,” says Felix-Hager. “[All] while still trying to maintain her Deborah Vance aesthetic.”

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FELIX-HAGER: CHRIS HAGER; “HACKS”: JAKE GILES NETTER/HBO MAX; SMART ON ROOF: COURTESY HBO MAX

“ It is the most beautiful piece. It’s lambs’ wool and reversible. There’s no label or anything on it, so I’m not quite sure of the year, but it’s hand-painted, leather, shaggy, and gorgeous.”

“The way that the caftan caught the light and moved—and her. I could literally watch that scene on a loop forever.”

“ I love how Deborah looks in Singapore. The scene where she’s dancing on the roof is one of my favorite shots our director of photography, Adam Bricker, has ever done; I cried.”

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ILLUSTRATION: ROY CUNNINGHAM; “HACKS”: COURTESY HBO MAX

“ The long, white vest is something Jean found; she had this friend whose mother had passed away, and she had all these incredible vintage pieces.”

THE GREEN ROOM

“ Her Singapore stage looks were very much a recall to how we saw her in Season 1 in Vegas, with the long gold dusters and the sparkle. She’s not doing anything new.”

FELIX-HAGER: CHRIS HAGER; “HACKS”: JAKE GILES NETTER/HBO MAX; SMART ON ROOF: COURTESY HBO MAX

ILLUSTRATION: ROY CUNNINGHAM; “HACKS”: COURTESY HBO MAX

“ Going back in time and using old pieces helps tell the story of how she’s being very backwardthinking in that moment.”

“ There’s a very specific L.A. vibe we tried to capture for Ava this year.

This is my hometown, and I love to show the world an L.A. that local people see.”

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THE GREEN ROOM

In the Envelope

Cristin Milioti The Emmy nominee brings her boldest performance yet to HBO’s “The Penguin” as the formidable Sofia Falcone

By Vinnie Mancuso

What drew her to Gotham’s shadowy world

“I’ve just always been so enamored that no one has superpowers. They’re all powered by their pain and by their particular brand of mental anguish.

It has this really heightened quality that can live in this realm of human fantasy, like a revenge fantasy....

And it’s incredibly chic. There’s just aesthetic things about it that are incredible.”

Why Batman’s enemies are so compelling

“What I think is so well done is that Batman and his villains are not that different. They’re trying their own version of justice.”

Her favorite scene

“When Sofia is in that yellow dress with the gas mask and the gun, walking through the house. You totally believe it. It’s totally earned.

And it’s like a comic book.”

How she got into character

“Music. There was a Sofia playlist.

It was a lot of Rosalía and Lana Del Rey.” This interview has been edited for clarity and length. To listen to the full interview, visit backstage.com/podcasts.

STEPHANIE DIANI

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Meet the Maker

Sexual Healing For “Dying for Sex” co-showrunner Kim Rosenstock, laughter really can be the best medicine

By Esther Zuckerman

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KIM ROSENSTOCK MADE her name in television by writing for and producing shows that make you laugh.

She first moved to Los Angeles to work on the quirky comedy “New Girl,” created by her friend Elizabeth Meriwether, and subsequently gained credits on the likes of “Single Parents” and “Only Murders in the Building.”

But co-creating and co-showrunning “Dying for Sex” with Meriwether was a different experience altogether. Yes, the project is a comedy, but it’s also an exploration of the unvarnished reality of living with and dying from Stage 4 breast cancer.

“A lot of my writing and storytelling early on and for a lot of my career was not necessarily

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The limited series isn’t an exact representation of Kochan’s story.

But the creators aimed to make what they did a tribute to Kochan, who possessed what Rosenstock calls “a beautiful, radical acceptance of other people and what they liked and what they desired.” The pair incorporated that quality into how they depicted sex as well as sickness.

“All these other amazing cancer survivors, cancer caretakers, doctors, and hospice workers that we talked to, their stories started to filter into the show,” Rosenstock says. “And then our writers’ room had these amazing writers who had various experiences with illness, cancer, and chronic-illness caretaking.

It does feel alive with all these other stories. That was what the real Molly wanted.”

Adapting the story was, at times, frightening for Rosenstock. After all, it’s there in the title: “Dying for Sex” isn’t just about orgasms—it’s also about mortality. It’s not a spoiler to say that you watch Molly die over the course of eight episodes, just as much as you watch her live.

“I personally was very scared, as most people are, of death,” Rosenstock says. “I think we can all agree that’s something that most people don’t like talking about and don’t like thinking about.”

She also knew that to honor Kochan’s story, she had to show the character’s death onscreen in the last episode with as much vulnerability as the real Kochan projected in her final podcast, recorded when she was in hospice. The result is one of the most moving half hours in recent television memory—both brutal and celebratory as Molly comes to realize she’s in her last moments. The scenes that had terrified Rosenstock were the ones that resonated most.

Casting Williams was a boon for the project. Her star power, Rosenstock says, helped recruit other actors and get the series made. But Rosenstock quickly understood that Kochan’s journey meant as much to Williams as it did to her. “It felt

ROSENSTOCK: CHRIS HAGER; “DYING FOR SEX”: SARAH SHATZ/FX

Michelle Williams on “Dying for Sex”

hard comedy,” Rosenstock says.

“I had always been interested in really painful topics and how to approach them with humor.”

The Emmy-nominated FX limited series is based on the 2020 podcast of the same name, which chronicled the sexual exploits of Molly Kochan, a 45-year-old New Yorker who decided to delve into her own understanding of pleasure upon finding out her cancer had metastasized. Kochan hosted the podcast alongside her best friend, Nikki Boyer, who’s now an executive producer on the TV show.

On the series, Molly, who’s portrayed by Emmy winner Michelle Williams, leaves her caring but unaffectionate husband, Steve (Jay Duplass), with the goal of discovering her own desires before she dies. Jenny Slate plays Nikki, a disorganized actor and Molly’s No. 1 person who becomes her primary caretaker in her last months.

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SARAH SHATZ/FX

THE GREEN ROOM

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ROSENSTOCK: CHRIS HAGER; “DYING FOR SEX”: SARAH SHATZ/FX

SARAH SHATZ/FX

Williams and Jenny Slate

like that sort of set the tone that we were all in service to this bigger story this woman had been trying to tell,” she says.

Slate and Williams didn’t know each other before production, but Rosenstock says they instantly had a spark that ended up shaping the relationship you see onscreen, which is similar to the real Boyer and Kochan’s, but not a strict recreation of it.

“I feel like we knew who these characters could be, but once we had these actors, we then saw so clearly who they were going to be in the show,” Rosenstock says.

Slate’s natural comedic sensibilities allowed Nikki to be a character who is funny, which the showrunners always intended, but not someone who is there for comic relief.

“There’s no relief in this story,” says Rosenstock. “[But] there’s a lot of comfort and there’s a lot of connection, and Jenny brings comfort and connection to everything.”

Actually, all the other performers brought on to “Dying for Sex”—whether they were cast as doctors or Molly’s kinky sex partners—grasped the magnitude of what Rosenstock and Meriwether were trying to accomplish.

The sad fact of the matter, Rosenstock says, is that nearly everyone they reached out to had experience with cancer in some way.

“Every single person we ­talked to immediately had a story to tell about their

‘‘ I had always been interested in really painful topics and how to approach them with humor.’’ relationship to this project,” she says. “I think that is unusual, in my experience anyway.”

Typically, people are excited and want to ask all kinds of questions, she explains, but for this, “immediately, people were opening up their hearts.”

That is not to say that the making of the miniseries was all e ­ motion; at times, it could even get silly. There were logistics to be a ­ ttended to and decisions to be made, many of which e ­ mphasized the other aspect of “Dying for Sex.” Despite Molly’s tragic death, the show remains very funny.

“It was still stressful like any production experience,” ­Rosenstock says. She had important questions to answer, like: “How much fake pee do we need for this scene? Is this the right size bottle of lube?

How much lube is too much lube? [When] have we crossed the line where it’s no longer funny, it’s just insane?”

Her hope in all these ­choices— from lubricants to the ­depiction of dying—was to provide viewers with a form of catharsis. After all, that kind of release has always been Rosenstock’s goal: to get people to laugh at the darkness.

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8/10/25 10:16 PM

THE GREEN ROOM Breaking Through

Lightning Strikes for

Isaac Ordonez TV’s spookiest little brother on his “Wednesday” breakout

By Eric Webb

heard Wednesday talking about all these friends she made— and Wednesday doesn’t make friends. So, of course, he thought that he was going to make friends, and to his surprise, he doesn’t. It’s great to play around with that.

How has your approach to the character changed from season to season?

In Season 1, we see him in a very emotional state. His dad’s in jail, or he’s saying goodbye to Wednesday. But in Season 2, we see his energetic, chaotic side way more—his devious, sneaky side.

Isaac Ordonez on “Wednesday”

Are there any ways that you identify with Pugsley, or particular ways that you’re different?

I don’t eat bugs.

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regular. Pugsley has joined his sister at Nevermore Academy, a gothic school full of psychics, werewolves, and supernatural secrets that stalk TV’s first family of fright. Season 2 debuted on the streamer earlier this month with its first four episodes; the second half creeps in Sept. 3.

Here, Ordonez tells us about settling into Pugsley’s iconic striped shirt and learning valuable lessons on set.

Your first major role is on a hit show. What have you learned about acting from your costars?

Luis Guzmán, who plays my dad [Gomez Addams], he actually gave me some pointers. We finished early on a certain day, so he asked some of the crew to [stick around]. We did camera exercises, which did prove very useful later on.

Basically, he placed my mark on the floor. He’d tell me if it was

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a wide lens, a tight lens, or a regular lens; [then] he had me walk out of the room. They’d switch where the mark was.

I couldn’t look at the floor when I walked [back] in. I just pretended I was in the scene. I had to find the right spot on camera without even knowing where my mark was.

How do you put your own stamp on a role like Pugsley, who’s been played many times by different actors?

You’ve got to start with the source material and, of course, look at different iterations of Pugsley. I think the ones I got the most out of were the animated “Addams Family” movies.

But also, Pugsley is lonely at Nevermore. You see a deeper side of him on this show.

Wednesday is getting all the attention from the family, and not so much him. He probably

This season, we also see Pugsley tap into the power to control electricity. What’s it like performing scenes where the special effects are added in later?

We tried out different hand motions depending on the scale of the electricity. Maybe a little flick for a small [amount], or, say, a [bigger gesture for] a massive ball of electricity.

Who are your acting role models?

Oscar Isaac. He’s a great actor.

Also, Jenna, because she does so many horror movies. She works nonstop.

What else should people expect from Season 2 of “Wednesday”?

Everything’s grander in scale— more characters, more monsters. Just know not everyone in this story is safe.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

COURTESY NETFLIX

YOUNGER SIBLINGS sometimes languish in the shadow of an older counterpart. Fortunately for Isaac Ordonez, all the best scenes on “Wednesday” happen in dark corners.

Co-created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the Emmywinning Netflix series reimagines the decades-old “Addams Family” franchise as a spooky young-adult fantasy centered on star Jenna Ortega’s titular misfit. Ordonez plays Pugsley Addams, Wednesday’s sensitive younger brother.

The 16-year-old actor cut his teeth on various short films and a music video for the Canadian duo Chromeo. “Wednesday,” executive produced by Tim Burton, marks his first major role. And what a way to make a splash: Season 1 spent 20 weeks atop the streamer’s global top 10.

This go-round, Ordonez has been bumped up to series

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THE GREEN ROOM

Samuel Blenkin on “Alien: Earth”

In the Room With

Kate Rhodes James The “Alien: Earth” CD on finding fresh faces for a beloved franchise

By Jacqueline Tynes

Sydney Chandler

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How the “Alien” legacy influenced the casting process When casting the series’ protagonist, James says the team wasn’t looking to recreate Sigourney Weaver’s iconic Lt. Ellen Ripley. Chandler’s Wendy, the leader of the Lost Boys— a group of synthetic robots infused with children’s consciousness—needed to be her own character.

But the CD did want the portrayal of Wendy to be a nod to Ripley’s spirit, and Chandler fit that bill. “Sydney is an amazingly committed, hardworking, charming individual, and was up and running for this audition faster than anyone I’ve ever known,” she says. “She really wanted it, and she knew what to do with it.”

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James took cues from the franchise’s first chapter for other characters as well— particularly when casting Lily Newmark, who plays Nibs, the youngest member of the Lost Boys.

Having worked with Newmark on Netflix’s fantasy drama “Cursed,” James recognized something familiar

in her demeanor that echoed Veronica Cartwright’s memorably vulnerable performance as navigator Joan Lambert. “I didn’t go out to find Veronica. I think [the influence of the original film] was subliminally leading the charge with my choices to present to Noah,” she says. “We weren’t looking for look-alikes,

JAMES: JASON FRANK ROTHENBERG; “ALIEN: EARTH”: PATRICK BROWN/FX

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nominated films “Gladiator II,” “Napoleon,” and “House of Gucci.” Here, the ­seasoned CD shares how she found performers who had the qualities needed to survive the “Alien” universe.

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“ALIEN: EARTH”: PATRICK BROWN/FX

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FX’S “ALIEN: EARTH” represents a bold return to the franchise’s sci-fi horror roots, taking viewers back to a nightmarish scenario that’s terrified audiences for decades: How do you survive a species that’s evolved to kill everything in its path? The prequel series specifically explores what happens when deadly alien specimens crash-land on Earth.

Set two years before Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic, “Alien: Earth” introduces an entirely new group of characters. Rising stars Sydney Chandler (­ “Sugar”) and Alex Lawther (“The End of the F***ing World”) lead a sweeping ensemble alongside screen veteran Timothy Olyphant (“Justified”). Noah Hawley, known for the FX series “Fargo” and “Legion,” brings his distinctive vision to the alien-infested landscape as creator and showrunner.

To assemble the cast, Hawley turned to Kate Rhodes James, Scott’s go-to casting director for his recent Oscar­-

David Rysdahl and Essie Davis

Alex Lawther, Diêm Camille, and Moe Bar-El Sandra Yi Sencindiver

JAMES: JASON FRANK ROTHENBERG; “ALIEN: EARTH”: PATRICK BROWN/FX

“ALIEN: EARTH”: PATRICK BROWN/FX

Timothy Olyphant

but we were certainly being inspired by [‘Alien’].”

The CD’s golden rule for actors who are auditioning for a major franchise James understands that auditioning for a project that brings with it a devoted fanbase can be intimidating. Her advice to performers is surprisingly

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simple: “Just forget” anything related to the franchise.

“Remember that Noah’s done all the work. It’s all in the dialogue. You don’t need to embellish it,” she says. “It’s harder when the scripts aren’t as good, and then you have to dip into your arsenal of tricks to try and pull it off; but when [a project has] been plotted so

beautifully, and [represents] the characters so beautifully, sometimes the best thing to say to an actor is, ‘Stop acting. Trust that we know why we’ve brought you into the room and trust the dialogue.’ ” Her best overall audition advice The CD wants actors to know that if they’re in the audition

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room, they’re there for a reason.

“If I’m bringing you in, I’ve already talked about you,” James says. “I’ve already said to [the director], ‘I think you’re going to love this actor, because I saw them in this.’ I give [them] lots of knowledge [about you], so that when you, as an actor, walk into the room, you’re halfway there.”

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Funny Photographed by

Shayan Asgharnia

How SETH ROGEN’s comedy hustle became the talk of the town By

Vinnie Mancuso

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WANT TO HEAR the Hollywood experience in a nutshell? One week you’re making Emmys history, the next you’re getting a firm “no.” Just ask Seth Rogen.

“The Studio,” the Apple TV+ series he co-created and stars in, notched a mighty 23 Emmy nominations last month, an all-time record for a freshman comedy.

It feels like Tinseltown’s stamp of approval for a show about Tinseltown. Rogen might play flailing production head Matt Remick, overseer of the fictional Continental Studios, but the cast is populated by half the town portraying themselves. Martin Scorsese signs on to direct a Kool-Aid movie; Ron Howard explodes over a studio note; and A-listers like Charlize Theron, Anthony Mackie, and Zoë Kravitz get pulled into Matt’s increasingly cringe-inducing orbit.

But if you think all those Emmy nods have made it any easier to repeat the parade of famous faces for Season 2, well…

“I was literally just told today that one of the cameos we really want will likely have no interest in doing our show,” Rogen tells us, unleashing his stuttering V8 engine of a laugh.

“We’re trying to fill these roles with very specific people that occupy very specific roles within our industry, and many of them are not people who traditionally make fun of themselves or even perform in any capacity,” he says. “We’ve once again made the smallest possible bull’s-eyes for us to be aiming at. Hypothetically, it should be easier. But so far, I’ve seen no actual evidence of that.”

What he does have evidence of (23 pieces of it, actually) is the fact he created a high-quality TV show. “The Studio,” beyond just being a slapstick workplace comedy, is a technical marvel. Each episode is constructed as a series of long, unending “oners,” giving the viewer no chance to breathe as they follow Matt from one possible film fuckup to the next. Rogen himself is nominated four times: as producer in the outstanding comedy category; for his lead performance; as cowriter of the premiere with co-creators Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory, Frida Perez, and longtime collaborator Evan Goldberg; and as co-director of the episode “The Oner”—itself a meta commentary on the one-take technique—with Goldberg.

The rest of the show’s nominations landed in nearly every other comedy category, most notably the guest-actor group, where “The Studio” holds five of the six available slots: for Scorsese, Howard, Mackie, and Dave Franco as themselves, along with Bryan Cranston as profit-hungry exec Griffin Mill. (Yes, Rogen has seen the photo of Scorsese’s emotional, hands-over-his-face reaction

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Instagram (caption: “Family”), sparking rumors that the chromedomed “Fast & Furious” star had been recruited for Season 2.

In reality, the two actors just happened to be at the opening of Universal Studios’ Steven Spielberg Theater—Diesel had a role in Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan,” Rogen in “The Fabelmans.” But the idea is out there.

“I went up and talked to him for quite a while,” Rogen says, “and he was very lovely. I had joked [on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’] about how I wanted him on the show, and then, a week later, to meet him for the first time I’ve ever met him in my entire life, it felt very fortuitous.”

If you haven’t been paying attention for the past, say, 15 years, you might be wondering when exactly Rogen graduated from court jester to the new king of Hollywood—a guy with the power to get the director of “Taxi Driver” his first acting nomination.

That influence has extended beyond just star wrangling; Rogen’s become a production powerhouse in his own right. His Point Grey Pictures, founded alongside Goldberg in 2011, has grossed more than a billion dollars backing a diverse slate of crass comedies like “This Is the End” and “Neighbors” alongside tentpole projects like Prime Video’s “The Boys” and the animated feature “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.”

It’s all a far cry from when Rogen first emerged, playing a freshfaced 16-year-old on Paul Feig’s short-lived “Freaks and Geeks”; soon afterward, he was a wunderkind writer on the staff of Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Da Ali G Show” (for which he earned his first Emmy nomination). The powers that be did not know what to make of this pot-smoking, gravel-voiced newcomer, especially as he proved to be a draw both behind and in front of the camera. In 2007, Rogen led a film for the first time, Judd Apatow’s “Knocked Up” (which grossed $220 million on a $25 million budget); that same year, Sony Pictures released Greg Mottola’s “Superbad” ($170 million on a $20 million budget), from a script Rogen and Goldberg wrote in high school.

“If things go well for him at the box office, Los Angeles restaurants may have to deal with an infestation of waiters who are dumpy Canadians with Jewfros,” reads a Time magazine interview published right before “Knocked Up” hit theaters. I mention to Rogen how surprising it is that so many of these early profiles had that same tone of— “ ‘Can you believe this idiot did this?’ ” he says, finishing the sentence with a guffaw. It was a public perception he was (and still is) well aware of. “I was playing the role more than actually being myself in a lot of interviews and appearances, because it was all very new to me.

“If it was actually hurting my career, I would’ve felt differently about it,” Rogen continues. “But as all this was happening, major corporations were entrusting me with tens of millions of dollars over and over again to essentially do whatever we wanted, so I wasn’t really seeing being painted as a stoner idiot really negatively affecting the things I wanted to do, necessarily.”

The real Rogen, he insists, has less of a headliney hook. “I’m a guy who does smoke weed, but I also work all day, every single day. I watch a lot of movies, I read about movies, and I try to learn about filmmaking as much as I can,” he says. He’s worked with collaborators like Goldberg and Apatow since before he could legally buy beer; he met his wife, actor and writer Lauren Miller, before cameras rolled on “Knocked Up.” “I understand,” he says, “when you’re looking for something and ‘stoner boy hits it big’ is a more interesting narrative than ‘a guy who works really hard and then tries to do his job well.’ ” The part of filmmaking that still mystifies him is acting. With writing and directing, he explains, “Evan and I always had a very specific and clear and distinct voice and tone that we were actively pursuing, and we had parameters for it.” But despite clearly

to the news; the director’s daughter, Francesca Scorsese, texted him right away.)

“It’s all so wonderful and lovely and really outside the realm of anything I expected. And it’s new to me, in many ways, to be involved in any awards conversation,” Rogen says. “It mostly just puts immense pressure on me to continue doing a show that people like.… I have 20 minutes of happiness, and then a week and a half of excruciating fear that what we’re doing isn’t good enough.”

That’s part of the reason why he’s already hunkered down writing Season 2. When we connect, Rogen’s calling on a brainstorming break from the Sunset Boulevard workspace he shares with Goldberg that, I can’t help but point out, looks a lot like a padded cell. “It’s good for sound and it makes us feel insane, so it’s perfect,” Rogen explains.

He wants the sophomore season to dive even more philosophically into the gray area between art and commerce, where execs like his character often have to decide between good taste and good ticket sales. “It’s an interesting debate: When does someone become an artist? When does giving notes translate into actually being a part of the creative process?” Rogen muses. There’s also the matter of accurately satirizing an industry that seems to self-satirize daily, where real-life Imax movie theaters will host an AI festival and HBO Max becomes Max and then HBO Max again.

And then, once the team does have all these ideas in place, they still need the cameos they’re penciling in to actually say yes. “It’s quite hard. There’s one episode that actually is, in many ways, my favorite idea that we’ve had for the second season, and it is 100% contingent on one specific person agreeing to do it,” Rogen says.

“And if they say no, we literally can’t do the episode and it won’t exist anymore.”

He remains tight-lipped about who the show has reached out to so far. “I know I shouldn’t talk about them publicly because I’m worried that it’s actually going to ruin my chances of getting them,” he says. The speculation around potential guests has already begun. Rogen recently shared a selfie with Vin Diesel on

“ HONESTLY‚ ACTING IS A VERY WEIRD JOB AND A VERY WEIRD ART FORM. I’VE ACTED WITH CHILDREN WHO LITERALLY DON’T KNOW WHAT THE SCENE IS ABOUT AND THEY’RE INCREDIBLE. AND I ALWAYS LEAVE THOSE DAYS NOT KNOWING WHAT TO DO WITH THAT INFORMATION.”

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“THE STUDIO”: APPLE TV+

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“ YOU HOPE THAT TASTE With Ike Barinholtz, Kathryn Hahn, and Chase Sui Wonders

PREVAILS‚ BECAUSE THERE IS NO FORMULA. PEOPLE SAID NO TO ‘SUPERBAD’ FOR Seth Rogen on “The Studio”

YEARS AND YEARS‚ AND THEN IT CAME OUT AND MADE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.

“THE STUDIO”: APPLE TV+

NO ONE KNOWS.”

With Rebecca Hall

growing beyond the improv-heavy Apatow house style over the years—just look at his stellar work in “The Fabelmans” or Danny Boyle’s “Steve Jobs”—the particulars of performing are still harder for him to pin down.

“Honestly, acting is a very weird job and a very weird art form,” he says. “I’ve acted with children who literally don’t know what the scene is about and they’re incredible. And I always leave those days not knowing what to do with that information. What does it say about the art of acting that I can be doing it with an 11-year-old, no one’s even told him what the movie is and he doesn’t care, and he’s a better actor than anyone else in the scene?”

The takeaway, in hindsight, is that “I don’t know if the more thought you put into [acting], the better you are at it, necessarily,” Rogen says. “Writing and directing, the more parameters you lay out for yourself and the more articulable creative goals you have, the better it is. That’s what’s cool about acting: It’s a lot scarier, in a way, in that it’s a little bit more mysterious.”

That’s also part of the reasoning behind shooting “The Studio” in as many long takes as possible—a way to do less thinking as an actor and more doing.

“I was like, what if you’re never off camera?” Rogen says. “What if you’re never sitting on an apple box as you’re getting coverage?

What if you’re never getting coverage? What if there’s never that day on set where I’m holding a telephone and they’re just shooting my hand holding the phone? Or what if there’s never a day where it’s just a shot of the outside of a building and they shoot me coming and going 15 times in 15 outfits? Because I don’t like those days.”

The design of “The Studio” also came from Rogen’s love of great blocking and choreography, something you often have to look outside the comedy realm to find. “What’s funny is, action movies are my favorite genre. That’s actually where a lot of the physicality in the show comes from,” he says. The talk naturally turned to James Cameron’s “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” a movie Rogen

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With Olivia Wilde

recently told Letterboxd “is probably actually my favorite movie ever made.” And from there, it’s almost impossible not to note how incredible a James Cameron cameo would be for Season 2.

“I did meet him at a restaurant recently, so I feel like maybe I have a shot,” Rogen says, before remembering: “I actually saw him at a restaurant with Kathryn Bigelow; it was fucking crazy.”

And if bumping into the highest-grossing filmmaker of all time with his history-making, Oscar-winning ex-wife sounds like something that might happen to Matt Remick, well, it’s hard to be this immersed in Hollywood without life occasionally imitating art. If anything, the careers of Cameron and Bigelow perfectly epitomize the question at the heart of “The Studio”—what does it take to create groundbreaking, personal work that also makes a shit ton of money?

Rogen’s path to the place he’s at now has made him better equipped to explore that question than almost anyone else working today. And the conclusion he’s found mostly echoes the enduring quote from Oscar-winning screenwriter William Goldman: “Nobody knows anything.”

“You hope that taste prevails, because there is no formula,” Rogen says. “People said no to ‘Superbad’ for years and years, and then it came out and made hundreds of millions of dollars. No one knows.”

It’s a paradox he’s made peace with. “I understand [the industry] better now,” he says, the irony sparking his trademark laugh.

“I don’t know if that makes it more or less frustrating, but it is something that is less confounding to me.”

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“THE BEAR”: FX; “THE STUDIO”: APPLE TV+

“ABBOTT ELEMENTARY”: DISNEY/GILLES MINGASSON; “THE BEAR”: FX; COLÓN-ZAYAS ON “THE BEAR”: KURT ISWARIENKO/FX; CURTIS ON “THE BEAR”: CHUCK HODES/FX; “THE FOUR SEASONS”: JON PACK/NETFLIX; “HACKS”: HBO MAX; “NOBODY WANTS THIS”: NETFLIX; BRODY ON “NOBODY WANTS THIS”: STEFANIA ROSINI/NETFLIX; “ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING”: DISNEY/PATRICK HARBRON; “POKER FACE”: SARAH SHATZ/PEACOCK; “THE RESIDENCE”: JESSICA BROOKS/NETFLIX; “SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE”: HOLLAND RAINWATER/NBC; “SHRINKING”: BETH DUBBER/APPLE TV+; “SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE”: SANDY MORRIS/HBO; “THE STUDIO”: APPLE TV+

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It’s

You’ve consulted your innie and outie, reflected on your adolescence, explored your fetishes, taken up birding, and confronted your past self.

With the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards set for Sept. 14, it’s time to make your picks for the year’s standout performances in the comedy, drama, and limited or anthology series or movie categories.

Comedy

Ike Barinholtz, “The Studio” Colman Domingo, “The Four Seasons” Harrison Ford, “Shrinking” Jeff Hiller, “Somebody Somewhere” Ebon Moss-Bachrach, “The Bear” Michael Urie, “Shrinking” Bowen Yang, “Saturday Night Live”

Supporting Actress Liza Colón-Zayas, “The Bear” Hannah Einbinder, “Hacks” Kathryn Hahn, “The Studio” Janelle James, “Abbott Elementary” Catherine O’Hara, “The Studio” Sheryl Lee Ralph, “Abbott Elementary” Jessica Williams, “Shrinking”

Guest Actor Lead Actor Adam Brody, “Nobody Wants This” Seth Rogen, “The Studio” Jason Segel, “Shrinking” Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building” Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear”

“THE BEAR”: FX; “THE STUDIO”: APPLE TV+

“ABBOTT ELEMENTARY”: DISNEY/GILLES MINGASSON; “THE BEAR”: FX; COLÓN-ZAYAS ON “THE BEAR”: KURT ISWARIENKO/FX; CURTIS ON “THE BEAR”: CHUCK HODES/FX; “THE FOUR SEASONS”: JON PACK/NETFLIX; “HACKS”: HBO MAX; “NOBODY WANTS THIS”: NETFLIX; BRODY ON “NOBODY WANTS THIS”: STEFANIA ROSINI/NETFLIX; “ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING”: DISNEY/PATRICK HARBRON; “POKER FACE”: SARAH SHATZ/PEACOCK; “THE RESIDENCE”: JESSICA BROOKS/NETFLIX; “SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE”: HOLLAND RAINWATER/NBC; “SHRINKING”: BETH DUBBER/APPLE TV+; “SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE”: SANDY MORRIS/HBO; “THE STUDIO”: APPLE TV+

Supporting Actor

Lead Actress Uzo Aduba, “The Residence” Kristen Bell, “Nobody Wants This” Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary” Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear” Jean Smart, “Hacks” backstage.com

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Jon Bernthal, “The Bear” Bryan Cranston, “The Studio” Dave Franco, “The Studio” Ron Howard, “The Studio” Anthony Mackie, “The Studio” Martin Scorsese, “The Studio”

Guest Actress Olivia Colman, “The Bear” Jamie Lee Curtis, “The Bear” Cynthia Erivo, “Poker Face” Robby Hoffman, “Hacks” Zoë Kravitz, “The Studio” Julianne Nicholson, “Hacks” 08.18.25 BACKSTAGE

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Drama Lead Actor Sterling K. Brown, “Paradise” Gary Oldman, “Slow Horses” Pedro Pascal, “The Last of Us” Adam Scott, “Severance” Noah Wyle, “The Pitt”

Lead Actress

“BAD SISTERS”: APPLE TV+; “THE DIPLOMAT”: ALEX BAILEY/NETFLIX; “THE LAST OF US”: LIANE HENTSCHER/HBO MAX; “MATLOCK”: MICHAEL YARISH/CBS; “PARADISE”: DISNEY; “THE PITT”: JOHN JOHNSON/HBO MAX; “SEVERANCE”: APPLE TV+; LOWER ON “SEVERANCE”: JON PACK/APPLE TV+; “SLOW HORSES”: JACK ENGLISH/APPLE TV+

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“THE HANDMAID’S TALE” DISNEY/STEVE WILKIE; “THE LAST OF US”: LIANE HENTSCHER/HBO MAX; “PARADISE”: DISNEY/BRIAN ROEDEL; “THE PITT”: WARRICK PAGE/HBO MAX; “SEVERANCE”: APPLE TV+; CHERRY ON “SEVERANCE”: JON PACK/APPLE TV+; “THE WHITE LOTUS”: FABIO LOVINO/HBO MAX

Kathy Bates, “Matlock” Sharon Horgan, “Bad Sisters” Britt Lower, “Severance” Bella Ramsey, “The Last of Us” Keri Russell, “The Diplomat”

Supporting Actor Zach Cherry, “Severance” Walton Goggins, “The White Lotus” Jason Isaacs, “The White Lotus” James Marsden, “Paradise” Sam Rockwell, “The White Lotus” Tramell Tillman, “Severance” John Turturro, “Severance”

Supporting Actress Patricia Arquette, “Severance” Carrie Coon, “The White Lotus” Katherine LaNasa, “The Pitt” Julianne Nicholson, “Paradise” Parker Posey, “The White Lotus” Natasha Rothwell, “The White Lotus” Aimee Lou Wood, “The White Lotus”

“BAD SISTERS”: APPLE TV+; “THE DIPLOMAT”: ALEX BAILEY/NETFLIX; “THE LAST OF US”: LIANE HENTSCHER/HBO MAX; “MATLOCK”: MICHAEL YARISH/CBS; “PARADISE”: DISNEY; “THE PITT”: JOHN JOHNSON/HBO MAX; “SEVERANCE”: APPLE TV+; LOWER ON “SEVERANCE”: JON PACK/APPLE TV+; “SLOW HORSES”: JACK ENGLISH/APPLE TV+

“THE HANDMAID’S TALE” DISNEY/STEVE WILKIE; “THE LAST OF US”: LIANE HENTSCHER/HBO MAX; “PARADISE”: DISNEY/BRIAN ROEDEL; “THE PITT”: WARRICK PAGE/HBO MAX; “SEVERANCE”: APPLE TV+; CHERRY ON “SEVERANCE”: JON PACK/APPLE TV+; “THE WHITE LOTUS”: FABIO LOVINO/HBO MAX

Guest Actor Giancarlo Esposito, “The Boys” Scott Glenn, “The White Lotus” Shawn Hatosy, “The Pitt” Joe Pantoliano, “The Last of Us” Forest Whitaker, “Andor” Jeffrey Wright, “The Last of Us”

Guest Actress Jane Alexander, “Severance” Gwendoline Christie, “Severance” Kaitlyn Dever, “The Last of Us” Cherry Jones, “The Handmaid’s Tale” Catherine O’Hara, “The Last of Us” Merritt Wever, “Severance”

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Limited or Anthology Series or Lead Actor Colin Farrell, “The Penguin” Stephen Graham, “Adolescence” Jake Gyllenhaal, “Presumed Innocent” Brian Tyree Henry, “Dope Thief” Cooper Koch, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”

Lead Actress

“ADOLESCENCE”: BEN BLACKALL/NETFLIX; “BLACK MIRROR”: ROBERT FALCONER/NETFLIX; “DISCLAIMER”: APPLE TV+; “DOPE THIEF”: JESSICA KOURKOUNIS/APPLE TV+; “DYING FOR SEX”: SARAH SHATZ/FX; “MONSTERS: THE LYLE AND ERIK MENENDEZ STORY”: MILES CRIST/NETFLIX; “THE PENGUIN”: MACALL B. POLAY/HBO MAX; “PRESUMED INNOCENT”: MICHAEL BECKER/APPLE TV+; “SIRENS”: MACALL B. POLAY/NETFLIX

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“ADOLESCENCE”: NETFLIX; “DYING FOR SEX”: SARAH SHATZ/FX; “MONSTERS: THE LYLE AND ERIK MENENDEZ STORY”: MILES CRIST/NETFLIX; “THE PENGUIN”: MACALL B. POLAY/HBO MAX; “PRESUMED INNOCENT”: MICHAEL BECKER/APPLE TV+

Cate Blanchett, “Disclaimer” Meghann Fahy, “Sirens” Rashida Jones, “Black Mirror” Cristin Milioti, “The Penguin” Michelle Williams, “Dying for Sex”

es or Movie Supporting Actor Javier Bardem, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” Bill Camp, “Presumed Innocent” Owen Cooper, “Adolescence” Rob Delaney, “Dying for Sex” Peter Sarsgaard, “Presumed Innocent” Ashley Walters, “Adolescence”

Supporting Actress

“ADOLESCENCE”: BEN BLACKALL/NETFLIX; “BLACK MIRROR”: ROBERT FALCONER/NETFLIX; “DISCLAIMER”: APPLE TV+; “DOPE THIEF”: JESSICA KOURKOUNIS/APPLE TV+; “DYING FOR SEX”: SARAH SHATZ/FX; “MONSTERS: THE LYLE AND ERIK MENENDEZ STORY”: MILES CRIST/NETFLIX; “THE PENGUIN”: MACALL B. POLAY/HBO MAX; “PRESUMED INNOCENT”: MICHAEL BECKER/APPLE TV+; “SIRENS”: MACALL B. POLAY/NETFLIX

“ADOLESCENCE”: NETFLIX; “DYING FOR SEX”: SARAH SHATZ/FX; “MONSTERS: THE LYLE AND ERIK MENENDEZ STORY”: MILES CRIST/NETFLIX; “THE PENGUIN”: MACALL B. POLAY/HBO MAX; “PRESUMED INNOCENT”: MICHAEL BECKER/APPLE TV+

Erin Doherty, “Adolescence” Ruth Negga, “Presumed Innocent” Deirdre O’Connell, “The Penguin” Chloë Sevigny, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” Jenny Slate, “Dying for Sex” Christine Tremarco, “Adolescence”

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Ask an Expert

Acting • Agents • Auditions • Film • Headshots • Social Media • Television • Unions • Voiceover

Bell and Brody have shared the screen twice before: in Daisy von Scherler Mayer’s 2013 comedy-drama “Some Girl(s),” and, that same year, on Showtime’s “House of Lies,” with Brody guest-starring as Bell’s character’s love interest (and the CEO of an adult sex toy company).

●

WHEN CASTING Netflix’s rom-com series “Nobody Wants This,” Brett Greenstein and Collin Daniel weren’t just looking for actors who were funny—they were searching for chemistry, realistic performances, and a willingness to play. Created by Erin Foster, the show follows the unlikely match of agnostic sex podcaster Joanne and “hot rabbi” Noah, played by Kristen Bell and Adam Brody. The ensemble thrives on connection and sharp timing, not only between its leads but also among standout supporting players like Justine Lupe and Timothy Simons.

Here, the veteran CDs share what gave these performers their edge—and how you can apply those same tools in your next audition.

Our Experts

Brett Greenstein (right) and Collin Daniel (left) of Greenstein/Daniel Casting are award-winning CDs known for their work on comedies like “Superstore,” “Never Have I Ever,” and “Hot in Cleveland.”

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Chemistry comes first.

Greenstein and Daniel agree that Bell and Brody work so well together largely because the stars were already friends.

“It really does help that they had a personal relationship previous to the show, and that they had worked together before,” says Greenstein.

Chemistry is “like lightning in a bottle,” Daniel explains.

“You can’t create chemistry if it’s not there. We’ve seen cases where shows don’t work because there’s no chemistry [between the actors].”

Bell and Brody (who both received Emmy nominations for their roles, along with the show’s oustanding comedy nod) were also on board to help with the audition process, making it easier than usual to find an ensemble that matched their energy. “Adam and Kristen were both available for our diverse auditions, and we were able to pair them with different people and read with different actors,” says Daniel. “We could really see the chemistry right from the get-go.”

Say yes to a little improv.

Lupe (“Succession”) and Simons (“Veep”) play Morgan and Sasha, the sharp-witted siblings of Joanne and Noah, respectively— and bring much of the show’s punchy humor to the screen.

Morgan was one of the first roles cast. “You can believe them as sisters,” Daniel says of Lupe and Bell. “[Lupe] is hilarious, and we’ve done a couple of comedy

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LUPE ON “NOBODY WANTS THIS”: ADAM ROSE/NETFLIX; BRODY AND BELL: SAEED ADYANI/NETFLIX; SIMONS: STEFANIA ROSINI/NETFLIX; GREENSTEIN AND DANIEL: COURTESY NETFLIX

What are CDs really looking for in a comedy audition?

pilots with her in the past, so she was always at the top of our list and on our radar.”

Simons was the final piece to the ensemble. Daniel says they had “seen the entire town” by the time they cast him as Noah’s brother. “Tim is a comedic genius and one of those actors who you just can’t take your eyes off of, because he’s so inventive, funny, and makes the smartest choices.

And so when he and Adam got together in the audition room, it was just like, Wow, this makes so much sense.

“We did a couple of versions by the script, and then we did a looser version where [they] could both improv together,” he continues. “[Simons] is such a genius at that, and it nailed it for him.”

Simons’ improv skills also kept Brody on his toes. “He had to be a little more like, ‘Oh, we’re in this,’ ” Greenstein says. “[Simons] is a formidable match. So it was fun to watch Adam step up to that level, energy-wise, and see them banter back and forth.”

Being authentic matters— and so does kindness.

Standing out in the audition room for “Nobody Wants This,” or any project like it, is a matter of being able to “keep it real,” Daniel says.

“The show is pretty much grounded in reality; it’s just real conversations,” he explains.

“That’s where a lot of actors go wrong sometimes, trying to push it a little too far, as opposed to just being natural, grounded, and real.”

As for general advice, they agree that aspiring actors should be respectful to everyone, no matter their experience. “Be nice to every single person, whether it’s the assistant or an intern, because you never know where that person is going to end up,” says Daniel. —Jacqueline Tynes

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