2015 Emmys: Raw & Uncensored – THR’s Drama Actress Roundtable feat. Taraji P. Henson, Viola Davis and more
The Hollywood Reporter’s actor roundtables are always a highlight of the Emmy season and this year’s crop of drama actresses are a fantastic, award-winning bunch of ladies from some of your favorite shows. There’s Taraji P. Henson (Empire), Viola Davis (How to Get Away with Murder), Ruth Wilson (The Affair), Lizzy Caplan (Masters of Sex), Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Honorable Woman) and Jessica Lange (American Horror Story: Freak Show) and hosted by Stacy Wilson, Awards Editor of The Hollywood Reporter.
Listen to Caplan talk about being scared to take on a dramatic role, who Henson’s inspiration for Cookie was, where Gyllenhaal found inspiration for her show’s most difficult scene to perform, Viola Davis’s investigative work as an actor in understanding her character Annalise Keating and Ruth Wilson, this year’s Golden Globe winner for Best Actress in a Drama Series, talks about the stigma against women in roles of infidelity compared to men. Each actress has a pop-up of a bit of history and Lange’s 40 years of acting is a laundry list of her awards haul that includes a SAG award, two Oscars, three Emmys and five Golden Globes.
The actresses talk about nudity on film and equality of sexuality in their respective shows. Caplan, whose very show is all about sex, talks about her scenes, Gyllenhaal explores her interest in nudity now as a 37-year old actress vs. her earlier work and Henson talks about being comfortable with her body in her very first film role.
The complete schedule for the first half of the season is as follows:
Sunday, Aug. 9: Drama Actor Roundtable
Timothy Hutton (American Crime: ABC)
Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul: AMC)
Clive Owen (The Knick: Cinemax)
David Oyelowo (Nightingale: NBC)
Justin Theroux (The Leftovers: HBO)
Jon Voight (Ray Donovan: Showtime)
Sunday, Aug. 16: Comedy Actress Roundtable
Lena Dunham (Girls: HBO)
Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Netflix)
Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live: NBC)
Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin: CW)
Tracee Ellis Ross (Black-ish: ABC)
Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer: Comedy Central)
Sunday, Aug. 23: Comedy Actor Roundtable
Fred Armisen (Portlandia: IFC)
Don Cheadle (House of Lies: Showtime)
Will Forte (The Last Man on Earth: Fox)
Ricky Gervais (Derek: Netflix)
Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley: HBO)
Jordan Peele (Key and Peele: Comedy Central)
Sunday, Aug. 30: Drama Showrunner Roundtable
Lee Daniels (Empire: Fox)
Alex Gansa (Homeland: Showtime)
Michelle King (The Good Wife: CBS)
Damon Lindelof (The Leftovers: HBO)
Sarah Treem (The Affair: Showtime)
Beau Willimon (House of Cards: Netflix)
Sunday, Sept. 6: Comedy Showrunner Roundtable
Kenya Barris (Black-ish: ABC)
Alec Berg (Silicon Valley: HBO)
Robert Carlock (The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Netflix)
Jay Duplass (Togetherness: HBO)
Steven Levitan (Modern Family: ABC)
Jill Soloway (Transparent: Amazon)
Sunday, Sept. 13: Reality Roundtable
Mark Burnett (Survivor, Shark Tank, The Voice)
Julie Chen (Big Brother)
Cat Deeley (So You Think You Can Dance)
Nigel Lythgoe (So You Think You Can Dance and American Idol)
Craig Piligian (The Ultimate Fighter)
Bertram Van Munster (The Amazing Race)
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He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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