Acting

Hurt, who died March 13, won an Oscar for his performance as a drag queen sharing a prison cell with a political dissident in the 1985 film Kiss of the Spider Woman. Originally broadcast in 2010.

The British actor is nominated for an Oscar for his role as a taciturn cowboy in The Power of the Dog. He prepared for the role by spending time with real ranchers. Originally broadcast Jan. 19, 2022.

Enter Me

Before HBO's Succession, actor Matthew Macfadyen was probably best-known to American audiences for his portrayal of the brooding Mr. Darcy in the 2005 film adaptation of Pride & Prejudice.

Cumberbatch stars in Jane Campion's Western The Power of the Dog as Phil Burbank, a hyper-masculine cattle rancher living on the plains of Montana in the 1920s. We talk about how body odor helped him channel the character, toxic masculinity, and filming on location in breathtaking landscapes of New Zealand. Cumberbatch also shares stories from his past — like his experiences teaching English at a Tibetan monastery and getting kidnapped in South Africa in 2005.

The Oscar-winning actor starred in films like In the Heat of the Night and To Sir, With Love, and helped pave way for other Black actors in Hollywood. He died Jan. 6. Originally broadcast in 2000.

The actor spoke with contributor Ann Marie Baldonado about navigating Hollywood as a young actor of color at a time when there were only stereotypical roles available — and why he took a break from acting to work in the Obama administration. He's best known for his roles in the Harold and Kumar franchise, The Namesake, and on the TV series House. His new memoir is You Can't Be Serious.

Dunst says acting opposite her husband, Jesse Plemons, in Jane Campion's new Western is an experience she'll never forget: "It was very special. ... He's my favorite actor to work with."

Culkin plays one of three siblings vying for control of a media empire. The character, he says, "doesn't really know what [it] means to suffer consequences." Originally broadcast Dec. 6, 2021.

In her latest film, Cruz plays a 40-something single woman who becomes pregnant unintentionally. While at the hospital, her character meets a pregnant teen who is very unhappy about having a baby.

In Bruised, which is now available on Netflix, Berry plays a disgraced mixed martial arts fighter named Jackie Justice, who takes on MMA's newest star. She does this to win back her name while figuring out how to be a mother to her estranged child. It's a role that Berry identifies with fundamentally.

Oscar Isaac plays a disgraced military man dealing with trauma from the Iraq war in the film, The Card Counter. He co-stars with Jessica Chastain in the HBO limited series Scenes from a Marriage, and he's one of stars of the new film Dune.

Sandra Oh came to prominence playing Dr. Cristina Yang on Grey's Anatomy, but she plays a different kind of doctor in her latest series, The Chair. In it, Oh stars as Ji-Yoon Kim, an English professor who is the first person of color and the first woman to head up her department at a prestigious fictional college.

Cecily Strong stars in the new Apple TV+ satire — a couple gets lost in the woods and end up trapped in a town where life is a musical and the townspeople frequently burst into song.

Grant started out in romantic comedies. Now he's up for an Emmy for his role as a narcissistic doctor accused of murder in the HBO series The Undoing. Originally broadcast Dec. 1, 2020.

After winning two Emmys for playing Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren on Orange Is the New Black, Uzo Aduba says her current role as a psychotherapist in HBO's reboot of its In Treatment series is an exciting change.

Williams, who died June 4, acted on Broadway before moving on to TV and film roles, including The Mod Squad, Purple Rain, Half Baked and I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. Originally broadcast in 1995.

After co-starring in HBO's Watchmen, Smart is now in two series — HBO's Mare of Easttown and the HBO Max comedy series Hacks, about the clash in sensibility between women comics of two generations.

Winslet stars in the new HBO series, Mare of Easttown. She spoke to Fresh Air in 2020 about her breakout turn in Titanic when she was in her 20s. "I was learning on the fly," she says.

Odom Jr. landed his first Broadway role at 16, and later starred as Aaron Burr in Hamilton. Now he's up for two Oscars, one for his role as Cooke in One Night in Miami.