Collider Ladies Night & Collider Forces

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Creature Commandos Interview: Maria Bakalova Wants to Work with James Gunn Forever
Maria Bakalova knows what she’s doing when it comes to finding top-tier creative partners in film and television. As a student studying at the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in Bulgaria, she gravitated toward acclaimed filmmakers Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov, a directing duo she still works with to this day. She met Julian Kostov in 2019 when he shared a casting notice for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, the movie that’d ultimately earn Bakalova an Oscar nomination. Now, Kostov is Bakalova’s producing partner. Under their Five Oceans banner they produced Triumph with Grozeva and Valchanov directing. The film was selected as the Bulgarian entry for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Next up on Bakalova’s list of dream collaborators she’s hoping to establish a long-standing creative partnership with? James Gunn. In fact, during her Collider Ladies Night interview, Bakalova noted, “If I have to choose one person that I want to stick with the rest of my life, it will be him.”Bakalova worked with Gunn for the first time on Guardians on the Galaxy Vol. 3 in which she played Cosmo the Space Dog. While Gunn’s run with the Marvel Cinematic Universe would come to an end there, his working relationship with Bakalova wouldn’t. Gunn made the shift from Marvel to DC, and brought Bakalova along with him. He cast her as Princess Ilana Rostovic in his adult animated series, Creature Commandos, the project that’d kick off the new DC Universe. At the start of the show, Task Force M is brought in to protect the Princess and the nation of Pokolistan from Circe (voiced by Anya Chalotra) and the Sons of Themyscira. However, as the season progresses, those involved start to question who they’re protecting the Princess from - and if she needs protecting at all.With all seven episodes of Creature Commandos Season 1 now available to stream on Max, Bakalova joined me for a Collider Ladies Night conversation to revisit her journey to the DC animated series, and to share her take on what goes down during the finale episode of the season. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Robbie Williams Interview: Making Better Man and Finally Finding Joy in His Work
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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Monica Barbaro Interview: Working with Timothée Chalamet on A Complete Unknown - "Our Processes Were So Different"
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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Ghosts Season 4 Interview: Rose McIver on That Genius Possession & Jay Seeing the Ghosts
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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Dune Prophecy Interview: Jessica Barden on That Finale, Creating Valya's Voice & Season 2
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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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About Collider Ladies Night & Collider Forces

Collider Ladies Night and Collider Forces put the spotlight on the need-to-know voices in Hollywood through entertaining, in-depth conversations. Who’s on the rise? Who’s changing the industry for the better? Collider.com senior producer Perri Nemiroff sits down with these standout artists to cover their journey from early influences, current projects, and beyond. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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