The Empire Film Podcast

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast sees Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve, stars of Cristian Mungiu's thought-provoking drama Fjord, sit down on Zoom with Chris Hewitt and tell him about working with Mungiu, their toughest days on set and, in Stan's case, speaking with a Romanian accent for the first time in forever. Either side of that, Chris is joined in the podbooth by James Dyer, Beth Webb, and Helen O'Hara, who explains to the team how she became involved with Cunk On Cinema, which is on the BBC now. Our intrepid quartet also discuss their favourite Sly Stallone moments, tackle an impromptu Stallone quiz, discuss the week's movie news, including James Gunn stepping down at DC Studios and the continued non-casting of James Bond, and review Fjord, How To Rob A Bank, Being Heumann, Prima Facie and Ebenezer. Enjoy.

It's yet another cracking episode of The Interviews, folks! Kyle MacLachlan — Agent Dale Cooper himself — drops in for a cup of damn good/damn fine [delete as per your personal preference] coffee with Chris Hewitt, as the two talk about MacLachlan's new memoir, Fictional Selves, David Lynch, crying on camera and much more. Then Chris talks to Naomi Ackie — making her second Interviews appearance in a row — and Max Minghella, stars of Clayface, about how Liverpool is the perfect stand-in for Gotham City. And, last but not least, we stay on all things Clayface with an extended excerpt from Chris' spoiler special interview with that film's director, James Watkins. Do not listen unless you've seen Clayface. Or maybe you are Clayface. There's honestly no way of telling. Enjoy.

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast sees Chris Hewitt in the grip of a mild addiction to Australian (and, originally, New Zealand) comedy show, Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee and, as a result, test his three colleagues of such lethal cunning — Helen O'Hara, Amon Warmann, and Harry Stainer — on a bunch of film-related words. What a dictionary. It's not all spelling, though, as our intrepid quartet discuss the best screenplays written by actors (trying to make a name for themselves), discuss the imminent arrival of Dune and Doomsday popcorn buckets, look at the week's movie news, and review Martin McDonagh's Wild Horse Nine, Takashi Yamazaki's Godzilla Minus Zero, Peter Farrelly's I Play Rocky (which inspired the listener question), and Los Javis' La Bola Negra. Oh, and Martin McDonagh is this week's guest, having a lovely natter with Jamie Graham about his new movie, which stars Sam Rockwell and John Malkovich. And your word, listeners, is Malkovi... oh, spelling bees don't work so well written down. Anyway, enjoy!

It's another jam-packed episode of The Interviews, folks, as Jamie Graham talks to Sofia Coppola about Making Marie Antoinette, the fly-on-the-wall making of documentary that was shot on the set of Marie Antoinette by Sofia's mother, Eleanor Coppola, and which has been finished by Sofia in time to mark Marie Antoinette's 20th anniversary. Then Amon Warmann has a fun chat with I Love Boosters' writer/director, Boots Riley, and his star, Naomi Ackie, about their bold and brilliant heist caper comedy. And last but not least, we have an extended excerpt from our spoiler special interview with Brian Duffield, director of Whalefall. Enjoy!

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast largely takes the form of a heartfelt tribute to Sir Patrick Stewart, who passed away on Thursday at the age of 86. In an extended news section, Chris Hewitt is joined remotely over Riverside by Helen O'Hara and James Dyer to share their memories of, and affection for, the great man, as well as some other greats who left us this week, including fellow Star Trek legend Walter Koenig and Alien star Tom Skerritt. Either side of that you will find the recording we made in the studio this week, in which Chris and Helen are joined by Alex Godfrey to talk about their favourite body horror movies (just in time for Halloween), and review Primetime, Wicker, I Love Boosters, Gentle Monster and Animol. And speaking of Primetime, Chris sits down in person with that film's star and producer, Robert Pattinson, and director Lance Oppenheim for an interview that covers everything from the origin of their movie, about the US TV show To Catch A Predator and its host, Chris Hansen, to working with Creed from The Office, and the greatest spit-take in many a year. Enjoy.