Collider Ladies Night & Collider Forces

Robbie Williams is a hugely popular singer and songwriter. He set a record by winning 18 Brit Awards and has two Grammy nominations to his name. Williams has churned out six of the top 100 best-selling albums in British history, amassed an audience of 375,000 fans over three nights performing at Knebworth, setting a record that’s yet to be surpassed, and has sold 85 million album worldwide. The list of achievements and accolades goes on and on, but he insists, “I didn't derive any joy from all the success that I had.” However, at 50, things have changed. “I am experiencing joy and I'm experiencing happiness. I'm also experiencing gratitude, a great deal of gratitude where I didn't have gratitude before. So, these are my golden years.”Williams has been enjoying a different kind of spotlight since August 2024. That’s when his film, Better Man, premiered at the 51st Telluride Film Festival before moving on to the Toronto International Film Festival, Fantastic Fest, and more. Based on Williams’ true rise, fall and resurgence, Better Man chronicles his journey from finding fame as a teenager with the boy band Take That, to parting ways with the group and mounting a solo career. While Williams did find great success on that path, it was one that also came with a significant number of struggles that, as Williams himself lists, included, “childhood trauma, fame too early, mental illness, addiction, [and] rehab.” Better Man shows how he powered through those challenges as Williams sees himself, as a “performing monkey.”With Better Man gearing up to celebrate its nationwide release on January 10th, Williams took the time to join me for a Collider Forces conversation to revisit the early days of his music career, explain how his definition of having “it” has evolved over the years, discuss why he trusted Gracey with his story, and so much more.

As I note during this new edition of Collider Ladies Night, while watching a A Complete Unknown, during Monica Barbaro’s first scene of the film, I scribbled down one note — “Monica — WOW,” and then proceeded to underline it quite a few times. She’s downright electric as Joan Baez, the renowned singer, songwriter and musician who developed a professional and personal relationship with Bob Dylan.Timothée Chalamet plays Dylan in the James Mangold-directed film, which follows the all-time great from meeting his icon, Woody Guthrie (Scott McNairy), to becoming one himself. With guidance from Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), Dylan begins his rise in the New York City folk scene. However, the higher he rises, the more he feels constrained by the expectations of the folk community, constraints Dylan opts to demolish via a controversial and groundbreaking performance.With A Complete Unknown now playing in theaters nationwide and surging on the awards circuit, I got the opportunity to sit down with Barbaro for a For Your Consideration edition of Collider Ladies Night. During our 30-minute chat, we covered Barbaro’s experience transitioning from dancing to acting, the project that gave her confidence she could make it in the film and television industry, how she was inspired by Tom Cruise and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and, of course, her experience making A Complete Unknown alongside Chalamet.

I had to wait until December 19th, but I finally got my greatest belly laugh of 2024 courtesy of Ghosts. In "A Very Arondekar Christmas Part 1,” while attempting to fix the water heater, Sam and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) suffer a shock, sparking another possession. Pete (Richie Moriarty) possesses Jay while Rose McIver’s Sam, a certified people-pleaser with a big heart who’s often quite concerned about what others think of her, is possessed by Betsy Sodaro’s Nancy, the super brash Cholera ghost who marches to the beat of her own drum to the fullest. Not only is the idea genius, but McIver and Sodaro’s execution of the concept is brilliant.In celebration of the release of the double dose of Christmas special episodes, McIver returned to Collider Ladies Night to look back on some pivotal moments of her career, like working with her acting coaching and moving to Hollywood, and to dig into two unforgettable aspects of these new episodes — McIver channeling Sodaro’s one-of-a-kind work as Nancy, and Jay finally being able to see the ghosts.

Jessica Barden is an undeniable force on screen. I first saw her in The End of the F***ing World on Netflix and immediately knew she had a one-of-a-kind energy that was bound to make any project she was part of sizzle. Sure enough, she did just that for a number of independent features, including Nicole Riegel’s Holler, which was named one of the Top Ten Independent Films of 2021 by the National Board of Review. Now Barden is busy stealing scenes in yet another significant way. She’s doing so in one of the most popular franchises out there opposite some of the industry’s greatest icons.Barden plays a young Valya Harkonnen in Dune: Prophecy. While living on Lankiveil, Valya frequently butts heads with her family who seemingly have no urgency to restore the Harkonnen name by taking revenge on the Atreides. After her brother’s murder, allegedly at the hands of Vorian Atreides, Valya joins the Sisterhood where she quickly discovers she holds great power and has few limitations when it comes to using it on others to get what she wants.With Dune: Prophecy wrapping up its first season, Barden joined me for a Collider Ladies Night conversation to revisit her journey to the franchise and to dig into how she found her Dune character alongside Emily Watson. Barden also offers her thoughts on a number of key scenes for Valya this season, and pinpoints what she’d love to see happen in the show’s recently announced second season.

Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist is epic. In fact, it’s a three hour and 35 minute epic that afforded Felicity Jones a rather unique performance opportunity. Her character, Erzsébet Tóth, doesn’t appear on screen until about halfway through the film, after its 15-minute intermission. The Brutalist begins by focusing on Adrien Brody’s László Toth, a famous architect who flees post-war Europe with hopes of building a new life in America. Separated from his wife, Jones’ Erzsébet, during the war, he settles in Pennsylvania alone with hopes she’ll join him there soon. Eventually, László gets what appears to be a dreamy offer from a wealthy industrialist, Guy Pearce’s Harrison Lee Van Buren. After coming to learn about László’s famed work overseas, Harrison hires him to craft his own dream project, to build a grand scale community center in honor of his late mother. It’s an opportunity for László to establish a foundation in his new home no doubt, but it’s also one that’s riddled with complications involving legacy and power.While Jones may not appear on screen during that period, Erzsébet’s presence is felt via her own voice over and what she means to László. Essentially, the audience spends half the film awaiting her arrival and fantasizing about how it might play out. When the moment does finally come, anticipation is through the roof, and Jones makes the most of it. When Erzsébet enters the picture, alongside their niece Zsófia (Raffey Cassidy), it quickly becomes abundantly clear that she is an undeniable force determined to build the best possible life for her family in their new home.With The Brutalist now playing in select theaters, Jones joined me for a Collider Ladies Night interview to revisit the path she’s carved for herself in cinema thus far, and to discuss making The Brutalist with Corbet, including her experience working on one particularly intense emotional beat that might very well be one of the best scenes of 2024.

Thanks to the success of the beloved Comedy Central series, Broad City, Abbi Jacobson is widely known as a comedic force in film and television. But, as of late, she’s busy uniting her comedy skillset with more dramatic performance opportunities, and the power of her ability to do both is undeniable. After soaring in the canceled-too-soon Prime Video series, A League of Their Own, Jacobson joins the ensemble of yet another brilliant comedy and drama combo, Netflix’s No Good Deed.At the center of Liz Feldman’s (Dead to Me) latest for the streamer, we find Lisa Kudrow and Ray Romano as Lydia and Paul Morgan, a couple gearing up to sell their gorgeous 1920s Spanish-style Los Feliz villa. The appeal of the property sparks a bidding war, a war Jacobson’s Leslie finds herself right smack in the middle of. Leslie and her wife Sarah, played by Poppy Liu, are ready to do just about anything to snag the house, but then they start to suspect there might be some dark and dangerous secrets tied to the property — secrets that’ll test how far they’re truly willing to go to get their dream home. As we now come to expect from a Liz Feldman show, No Good Deed is a laugh-out-loud romp that’s also brimming with heart and pathos. Jacobson is especially adept at achieving a pitch-perfect blend of the two qualities, further cementing the fact that she’s not only a hugely talented comedic actress, but a dramatic star, too. In celebration of No Good Deed’s release on Netflix, Jacobson swung by for a Collider Ladies Night chat to revisit her choice to leave the Atlantic Theater Company for the The Upright Citizens Brigade, and how, all these years later, she’s finally come to accept that she didn't have to study at an acting conservatory to take on dramatic roles.

As we near the New Year, awards season has come into focus and things are looking quite good for international feature contender I’m Still Here. Set in Brazil in the 1970s, a time of military dictatorship, the biographical drama puts the spotlight on Eunice Paiva (Torres), a mother of five who’s forced to forge forward after the disappearance of her husband, former Brazilian Labour Party congressman Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello). Based on Marcelo Rubens Paiva’s book, I’m Still Here chronicles the deeply profound fortitude Eunice exhibits as she both keeps her family together and earns a law degree in hopes of contributing to holding the government accountable for the human rights abuses committed during this period.While the movie itself appears to be in good shape in Best International Feature, Best Actress has proven to be an especially competitive category this year. Many prognosticators are favoring the work of Mikey Madison in Anora, Karla Sofía Gascón in Emilia Pérez, Cynthia Erivo in Wicked, Nicole Kidman in Babygirl, and Angelina Jolie in Maria in particular. All phenomenal performances worthy of the praise they’re receiving, but don’t be surprised if we see someone climb those ranks in the coming weeks, and I’m predicting that someone could and should be Fernanda Torres.In celebration of the film’s award season run and upcoming theatrical release, Torres joined me for a Collider Ladies Night conversation to revisit the significant moments that molded her as an actor and artist, and to discuss her experience making I’m Still Here, an experience that often transcended acting and felt more like being.

June Squibb is a legend. She’s a legend with a slew of stage experience, dozens and dozens of film and TV credits to her name, and an Academy Award nomination for her performance in Nebraska. However, it wasn’t until just now, in her 90s, that she finally scored her first lead role in a film, Josh Margolin’s feature directorial debut, Thelma. An absurdity, in my opinion. But, that’s not how Squibb looks at it. As she noted during our Collider Ladies Night conversation, “It's never occurred to me that what I was doing was not the most important role in the film.” This year, however, the most important role in the film put her at #1 on the call sheet.Not only did Squibb finally get the chance to headline a film, but she plays the title character in one of the best movies of 2024. In Thelma, Squibb plays Thelma Post, a 93-year-old woman living alone in Los Angeles. Her grandson, Danny (Fred Hechinger), checks on her often, but not often enough to stop her from giving up $10,000 in a scam. Determined to fix the mistake herself, Thelma sets off with her friend Ben (Richard Roundtree) and his scooter to track down her money.After celebrating its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and amassing a slew of wildly positive reviews leading up to its summer 2024 release, Thelma is now in the midst of an awards season push, specifically for Squibb’s lead performance. While celebrating Thelma’s success, Squibb visited the Collider Ladies Night studio to walk us through her journey from stage to screen, and to discuss what it was like finally getting the opportunity to headline a movie.

Get ready for the rise of Chloe East. She headlined 2016’s Jessica Darling’s It List, appeared in a number of episodes of Liv and Maddie, and was a series regular on both Kevin (Probably) Saves the World and the 2021 HBO Max series Generation, but the one-two punch of The Fabelmans and Heretic in the feature film realm will undoubtedly put East on the map in a wholly different way. In fact, it already has. She’s got a number of highly anticipated projects on the horizon including Liz Feldman’s new Netflix series No Good Deed, Kogonada’s A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, and At the Sea starring Amy Adams.East was a scene-stealer in Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award nominated feature playing Monica, Sammy’s devoutly Christian (Gabriel LaBelle) girlfriend. However, it’s Heretic that proves she’s a true powerhouse in a leading role. She headlines alongside Sophie Thatcher as Sister Paxton and Sister Barnes, respective. They’re two young missionaries making the rounds in suburban Colorado telling the locals about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Eventually, they knock on Hugh Grant’s Mr. Reed’s door. Little do they know, he’s ready for them, and he’s determined upend their beliefs in the church.With Heretic now playing in theaters nationwide, East joined me for a Collider Ladies Night chat to revisit her earliest inspirations, general love and knowledge of cinema, what it’s been like finding her voice in Hollywood thus far, and pinpointing the pitch-perfect tone for her character in Heretic.