Collider Ladies Night & Collider Forces

• John Magaro Interview: How Many Breakout Movies Can the September 5 & Past Lives Star Have?

  John Magaro has quietly built one of the most impressive filmographies in Hollywood. So quietly, in fact, that he’s still often being dubbed a “breakout” with each new hit he delivers. Magaro insists his priority is being an artist, not a movie star. However, given the pace with which he’s churning out standout performances in phenomenal films, the latter is more undeniable than ever. John Magaro is a star and any production would be lucky to have him.The two most recent films to have Magaro as a headliner are an Oscar nominee and a Sundance 2025 Grand Jury Prize nominee. The former is September 5, a film that masterfully brings the viewer into ABC Sports’ control room at the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics as they redefine live news when they have to shift from sports reporting to live coverage of the Israeli athletes taken hostage. The film recently scored an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, and was deserving of far more.The other film Magaro is in the midst of celebrating is his Sundance 2025 selection, Omaha. In Cole Webley’s feature directorial debut, Magaro plays a father who suddenly wakes his two young children, Ella and Charlie, and insists they must go on a road trip. Ella soon comes to suspect that what seems like a fun family adventure is actually something wholly different for her father.In honor of Omaha’s big debut at the Sundance Film Festival and September 5’s Oscar run, Magaro took the time to swing by the Collider interview studio at Sundance, brought to you by Rendezvous Capital, for a Collider Forces interview. While paving the way to his experience making those two films, Magaro explained how he came to embrace his truth as an actor, a truth that’s sparked some of the very best performances we’ve seen in recent years. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Wolf Man Interview: Julia Garner Thinks Every Actor Should Do Horror At Least Once

  Julia Garner has amassed an incredibly varied filmography over the years. Her first feature credit was the Sundance darling Martha Marcy May Marlene, she won three Emmys for playing Ruth Langmore in Netflix’s hit crime drama Ozark, and she’s about to make her franchise debut in one of the most anticipated films of the year, The Fantastic Four: First Steps. However, there’s one particular genre she keeps coming back to, and given it’s a personal favorite genre, I’m thrilled about it. Garner is delivering a steady stream of horror movies.Her latest in that department is Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man, a new spin on the 1941 classic. In this version, Christopher Abbott and Garner play Blake and Charlotte, a husband and wife struggling with their relationship. When Blake receives a death certificate for his estranged father and the keys to his childhood home, he thinks that could be just the getaway they need to get things back on track. Along with their young daughter, Ginger (Matilda Firth), they head out to the remote house in the mountains of Oregon. However, just before arriving, they’re attacked and Blake suffers a scratch that kicks off a horrific transformation. With Wolf Man now playing in theaters nationwide, Garner joined me for a Collider Ladies Night conversation to revisit her journey in film and television thus far, with an extra special emphasis on her experience working in the horror genre. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• September 5 Interview: What Shocked Leonie Benesch Most About Being a Translator

  Just a year after celebrating a Best International Feature Film nomination at the Oscars for The Teachers’ Lounge, which marked her first lead role in a feature, Leonie Benesch is back on the awards circuit with a filmmaking feat, Tim Fehlbaum’s unique approach to depicting the devastating events at the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, September 5. The film features a top-tier ensemble that includes Benesch, John Magaro, Peter Sarsgaard, Ben Chaplin and more as the ABC Sports broadcasting team in Munich, a team that must shift from sports reporting to live coverage of the Israeli athletes taken hostage, marking the very first time such an event was covered by a live broadcast. In September 5, the story is told entirely from their perspective, exploring the intricacies of high-tech broadcast capabilities and the responsibilities that come with them, a combination that’s become increasingly relevant with each passing day.With September 5 expanding nationwide on January 17th, I got the opportunity to sit down with Benesch for a Collider Ladies Night chat to revisit her journey in film and television thus far, and to dig into the prep work necessary to accurately portray a translator in September 5. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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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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