In The Envelope: An Awards Podcast

Actor William Jackson Harper went from his native Dallas to Santa Fe to the stages of New York City, following his passion for playing fascinating, sometimes oddball, characters. Just before catching his big break in TV, he was reevaluating his career, weighing its many rejections against that passion. Then he joined NBC’s inventive Michael Schur comedy about the afterlife, “The Good Place,” as the neurotic Chidi Anagonye, a performance that has earned him a Critics’ Choice Television Award nomination and Emmy buzz. -- For over 50 years, Backstage has been the most trusted place for actors to find jobs and career advice, and for casting professionals to find the right performers for their projects. “In the Envelope: An Awards Podcast” features interviews with some of the most exciting actors and storytellers working today. Check out more here: https://bit.ly/2OMryWQ SUBSCRIBE and listen to In the Envelope on: - iTunes: https://apple.co/2rs0llz - Google Play: https://bit.ly/2DHkPwt - Spotify: https://spoti.

Join us for an “In the Envelope” first: our in-depth look at awards contenders! Jack Smart is joined by Backstage senior staff writer Casey Mink for a discussion on everything you need to know about the 2019 Tony Awards and what’s on Broadway today: Which productions and performances are the favorites (and our personal favorites) at the upcoming ceremony? And what do this year’s Tony nominations say about the state of theater today? Tune in for the full scoop. -- For over 50 years, Backstage has been the most trusted place for actors to find jobs and career advice, and for casting professionals to find the right performers for their projects. “In the Envelope: An Awards Podcast” features interviews with some of the most exciting actors and storytellers working today. Check out more here: https://bit.ly/2OMryWQ SUBSCRIBE and listen to In the Envelope on: - iTunes: https://apple.co/2rs0llz - Google Play: https://bit.ly/2DHkPwt - Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2QNmu6C - Stitcher: https://bit.ly/2DJv6bD - Overcast:

Award-winning writer-director Jez Butterworth has come across the pond from his native London to stun Broadway audiences with plays like “Jerusalem” and “The River,” and now this season’s Tony-nominated family epic about The Troubles in 1981 Ireland, “The Ferryman.” In this fascinating peek at his writing process—and how ideas for stories chase him down—Jez ponders and untangles the many mysteries of theater-making, providing crucial advice on how to do it. -- For over 50 years, Backstage has been the most trusted place for actors to find jobs and career advice, and for casting professionals to find the right performers for their projects. “In the Envelope: An Awards Podcast” features interviews with some of the most exciting actors and storytellers working today. Check out more here: https://bit.ly/2OMryWQ SUBSCRIBE and listen to In the Envelope on: - iTunes: https://apple.co/2rs0llz - Google Play: https://bit.ly/2DHkPwt - Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2QNmu6C - Stitcher: https://bit.ly/2DJv6bD - Overcast: ht

Raised in New York City and its theaters, Lilli Cooper became a Broadway star at age 16 in the original cast of “Spring Awakening.” She’s worked on and off Broadway, played Elphaba in “Wicked” and Sandy Cheeks in last season’s “SpongeBob SquarePants,” and is now nominated for her first Tony Award in David Yazbek and Robert Horn’s musical adaptation of “Tootsie” (as working actor Julie, the role that won Jessica Lange an Oscar). Lilli joins the podcast for a frank conversation about the literal blood, sweat, and tears that theater requires. -- For over 50 years, Backstage has been the most trusted place for actors to find jobs and career advice, and for casting professionals to find the right performers for their projects. “In the Envelope: An Awards Podcast” features interviews with some of the most exciting actors and storytellers working today. Check out more here: https://bit.ly/2OMryWQ SUBSCRIBE and listen to In the Envelope on: - iTunes: https://apple.co/2rs0llz - Google Play: https://bit.ly/2DHkPwt -

The incandescent Celia Keenan-Bolger is one of New York’s most respected actors and community activists. Originally from Detroit, she’s been nominated for four Tony Awards: “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” “Peter and the Starcatcher,” “The Glass Menagerie,” and now Aaron Sorkin’s acclaimed adaptation of the Harper Lee classic, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” in which she plays Scout Finch. Celia joins Backstage to talk about epiphanies onstage, how not to “compare and despair,” and the state of Broadway—and America—today. -- For over 50 years, Backstage has been the most trusted place for actors to find jobs and career advice, and for casting professionals to find the right performers for their projects. “In the Envelope: An Awards Podcast” features interviews with some of the most exciting actors and storytellers working today. Check out more here: https://bit.ly/2OMryWQ SUBSCRIBE and listen to In the Envelope on: - iTunes: https://apple.co/2rs0llz - Google Play: https://bit.ly/2DHkPwt - Spotify: ht

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is best known as Jaime Lannister the Kingslayer on the fantasy hit “Game of Thrones” from David Benioff, D. B. Weiss, and author George R. R. Martin. His performance on the award-winning HBO series, now launching its buzzy final season, has earned him SAG and Emmy nominations. Nikolaj also advocates for gender equality and climate change awareness as an ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme, and has starred in movies, TV series, and stage productions in and outside his native Denmark. He has plenty of insights on how to navigate theater training, auditions and meetings, and a career that’s full of rejection. -- For over 50 years, Backstage has been the most trusted place for actors to find jobs and career advice, and for casting professionals to find the right performers for their projects. “In the Envelope: An Awards Podcast” features interviews with some of the most exciting actors and storytellers working today. Check out more here: bit.ly/2OMryWQ Listen and subsc

Timothy Simons is nothing like his character on “Veep”—well, except for the generous use of profanity. Growing up a class clown in rural Maine, Tim worked in theater and commercials before cracking up TV audiences as Jonah Ryan, one of the lovably horrible politicians on HBO’s Emmy-winning comedy created by Armando Iannucci and starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The valuable career advice he shares in this interview includes everything from red carpet posing to how to cope with a devastating, lifelong addiction to acting. -- For over 50 years, Backstage has been the most trusted place for actors to find jobs and career advice, and for casting professionals to find the right performers for their projects. “In the Envelope: An Awards Podcast” features interviews with some of the most exciting actors and storytellers working today. Check out more here: https://bit.ly/2OMryWQ Listen and subscribe to “In the Envelope” on: - iTunes: https://apple.co/2rs0llz - Google Play: https://bit.ly/2DHkPwt - Spotify: https://spo

André Holland has turned in quietly powerful and honest performances in “42,” “Selma,” his leading role on the Stephen King-inspired Hulu series “Castle Rock,” and more. From his early days of studying theater and using Backstage, to his breakout in Steven Soderbergh’s “The Knick” and Barry Jenkins’ Oscar-winning “Moonlight,” the Alabama native has excelled at following his gut to stellar projects and collaborators. He now leads the new Netflix film “High Flying Bird,” a sports drama from screenwriter Tarell Alvin McCraney filmed entirely on an iPhone by Soderbergh, with a story suggested by André himself. For over 50 years, Backstage has been the most trusted place for actors to find jobs and career advice, and for casting professionals to find the right performers for their projects. “In the Envelope: An Awards Podcast” features interviews with some of the most exciting actors and storytellers working today. Check out more here: https://bit.ly/2OMryWQ SUBSCRIBE and listen to In the Envelope on: - iTunes:

Regina Hall has proven she’s one of today’s shrewdest and funniest on-screen performers, from her early days pounding the pavement using Backstage, to her work in films like “Love & Basketball,” the “Scary Movie” franchise, and the biggest comedy of last year, “Girls Trip.” She’s now starring in the hilarious new Showtime series “Black Monday,” created by Jordan Cahan and David Caspe, and is proving to be a master at quietly breaking audiences’ hearts, as she does in Andrew Bujalski’s Magnolia Pictures indie “Support the Girls,” a performance that’s earned her a Film Independent Spirit Award nomination and NYFCC Award for leading actress. For over 50 years, Backstage has been the most trusted place for actors to find jobs and career advice, and for casting professionals to find the right performers for their projects. “In the Envelope: An Awards Podcast” features interviews with some of the most exciting actors and storytellers working today. Check out more here: https://bit.ly/2OMryWQ SUBSCRIBE and listen

At only age 15, Elsie Fisher has pearls of wisdom aplenty in this interview, recorded amid a whirlwind of a breakthrough year. As socially awkward middle schooler Kayla Day in writer-director Bo Burnham’s feature debut “Eighth Grade” from A24, she’s been nominated for over a dozen awards, including a Golden Globe, and won the Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor. Elsie has plenty of advice for kid actors and their parents navigating Hollywood, and speaks candidly about her anxiety and self-awareness. “If you wake up every morning and you wanna act, you’re an actor,” says the young star. For over 50 years, Backstage has been the most trusted place for actors to find jobs and career advice, and for casting professionals to find the right performers for their projects. “In the Envelope: An Awards Podcast” features interviews with some of the most exciting actors and storytellers working today. Check out more here: https://bit.ly/2OMryWQ Follow Backstage and "In the Envelope" on social media: -

Award-winning actor, producer, director, and activist Natalie Portman is one of Hollywood’s brightest talents. She burst onto the scene as a pre-teen in “Léon: The Professional” and “Mars Attacks!” and has been fighting for the projects and causes she believes in ever since. You may know her from the “Star Wars” prequels, “Anywhere But Here,” “Garden State,” “Closer,” “V for Vendetta,” her Oscar-winning “Black Swan,” “A Tale of Love and Darkness,” and “Jackie,” or for her advocacy work with the #TimesUp movement and more. This year proved to be another fascinating chapter in the Natalie Portman filmography, leading Alex Garland’s Paramount Pictures sci-fi thriller “Annihilation” and playing a damaged pop star in Brady Corbet’s NEON drama “Vox Lux.” Her advice for a career in the arts? Figure out what you’re obsessed with and go after it! For over 50 years, Backstage has been the most trusted place for actors to find jobs and career advice, and for casting professionals to find the right performers for their

Amandla Stenberg plays Starr Carter in 20th Century Fox’s “The Hate U Give,” the big-screen adaptation of Angie Thomas’ young adult novel inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. Amandla got her start in the biz early, playing Rue in “The Hunger Games” and working as a model, musician, and even comic book co-writer. Also, at only 20 years old, she’s the voice of an activist generation, using her platform to advocate for women, African Americans, the LGBTQ community, and other minorities. We’re so thrilled to welcome her at this early stage of her world domination. For over 50 years, Backstage has been the most trusted place for actors to find jobs and career advice, and for casting professionals to find the right performers for their projects. “In the Envelope: An Awards Podcast” features intimate, inspirational interviews with some of the most exciting actors and awards contenders working today. Check out more here: https://bit.ly/2OMryWQ In the Envelope Twitter: twitter.com/InTheEnvelope Backstage Tw

Nick Kroll appears in some of Hollywood’s funniest recent projects—films like “A Good Old Fashioned Orgy,” “Adult Beginners,” “The House,” TV shows including “Cavemen,” “Parks and Recreation,” and “The League”—and for creating “The Kroll Show,” starring on Broadway alongside John Mulaney in their web series–inspired “Oh, Hello,” and now, the Netflix animated puberty comedy “Big Mouth,” co-created with Andrew Goldberg, Mark Levin, and Jennifer Flackett. Nick provides us a behind-the-scenes glimpse of writing and starring in the hit series, and preaches the gospel of creating your own work. For over 50 years, Backstage has been the most trusted place for actors to find jobs and career advice, and for casting professionals to find the right performers for their projects. “In the Envelope: An Awards Podcast” features intimate, inspirational interviews with some of the most exciting actors and awards contenders working today. Check out more here: https://bit.ly/2OMryWQ In the Envelope Twitter: twitter.com/InTheE

John Krasinski is best known for his Jim Halpert on the award-winning “The Office,” but as this in-depth interview suggests, he’s as much a writer-director-producer as a comedic star. Inspired by his arts education at Brown University and the National Theater Institute, he’s starred in “Leatherheads,” “Away We Go,” “13 Hours,” collaborated on “Promised Land” and “Manchester by the Sea,” and helmed “Brief Interviews with Hideous Men,” “The Hollars,” and now, the Paramount Pictures horror hit “A Quiet Place,” co-starring his wife, Emily Blunt. John also currently produces and leads the Amazon thriller series “Jack Ryan,” which means he is having quite the year. Brought to you by Universal Pictures. For over 50 years, Backstage has been the most trusted place for actors to find jobs and career advice, and for casting professionals to find the right performers for their projects. “In the Envelope: An Awards Podcast” features intimate, inspirational interviews with some of the most exciting actors and awards cont

Triple threat MJ Rodriguez, born and raised in New Jersey where she got her big break in an Off-Broadway production of “Rent,” got an even bigger break last year when she was cast as Blanca, mother of the House of Evangelista, in FX’s drama “Pose” from Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Steven Canals. She leads the largest cast of transgender actors in the history of scripted TV, recreating the world of queer culture in 1980s New York City. MJ joins the podcast with advice on practicing patience and blazing trails in the biz. For over 50 years, Backstage has been the most trusted place for actors to find jobs and career advice, and for casting professionals to find the right performers for their projects. “In the Envelope: An Awards Podcast” features intimate, inspirational interviews with some of the most exciting actors and awards contenders working today. Check out more here: https://bit.ly/2OMryWQ In the Envelope Twitter: twitter.com/InTheEnvelope Backstage Twitter: twitter.com/backstage Facebook: facebook.

You may know Zoe Kazan from the feature film she wrote and starred in, “Ruby Sparks,” or for her performances on and Off-Broadway, in last year’s “The Big Sick,” and on the miniseries “Olive Kitteridge,” which earned her a Primetime Emmy nomination. This year she’s both the writer and producer behind IFC Film’s “Wildlife,” directed by her partner Paul Dano, and one of the stars of the Coen brothers’ Netflix western, “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.” And she’s got never-before-heard advice from both sides of the audition room table. For over 50 years, Backstage has been the most trusted place for actors to find jobs and career advice, and for casting professionals to find the right performers for their projects. “In the Envelope: An Awards Podcast” features intimate, inspirational interviews with some of the most exciting actors and awards contenders working today. Check out more here: https://bit.ly/2OMryWQ In the Envelope Twitter: twitter.com/InTheEnvelope Backstage Twitter: twitter.com/backstage Facebook: f

In 2018 Lucas Hedges stars in three buzzy films—“Boy Erased,” Joel Edgerton’s retelling of Garrard Conley’s gay conversion therapy memoir; “Mid90s,” Jonah Hill’s skateboarding indie; and “Ben Is Back,” an addiction drama written and directed by his father Peter Hedges—plus on Broadway in “The Waverly Gallery” by Kenneth Lonergan, who penned his Oscar-nominated “Manchester by the Sea” role. Earning an ensemble SAG Award ensemble for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” and the distinction of counting Frances McDormand, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, and Julia Roberts among his on-screen parents, the 21-year-old actor joins us to reflect on his whirlwind of a career breakthrough. For over 50 years, Backstage has been the most trusted place for actors to find jobs and career advice, and for casting professionals to find the right performers for their projects. “In the Envelope: An Awards Podcast” features intimate, inspirational interviews with some of the most exciting actors and awards contenders work

Actor and activist Maggie Gyllenhaal has turned in striking and thought-provoking work in her every film role, from “Donnie Darko” and “Secretary” to “Sherrybaby” and “The Dark Knight.” She earned a Primetime Emmy nomination and won a Golden Globe for the miniseries “The Honourable Woman,” and has an Oscar nod for her supporting role in “Crazy Heart.” This year she’s both producer and star of HBO’s “The Deuce” and the new Netflix film “The Kindergarten Teacher,” excellent examples of Maggie’s fascinating “tightrope walk” of an artistic process. For over 50 years, Backstage has been the most trusted place for actors to find jobs and career advice, and for casting professionals to find the right performers for their projects. “In the Envelope: An Awards Podcast” features intimate, inspirational interviews with some of the most exciting actors and awards contenders working today. Check out more here: https://bit.ly/2OMryWQ In the Envelope Twitter: twitter.com/InTheEnvelope Backstage Twitter: twitter.com/backst

First a viral hit in a college “Harry Potter” parody musical, then a breakout triple threat on “Glee” and Broadway, and now Emmy-nominated for playing an assassin, Darren Criss is one of today’s most charismatic and versatile storytellers. Playing the lead role of 1990s spree killer Andrew Cunanan in “The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” the second season of Ryan Murphy’s anthologized FX hit “American Crime Story,” Darren dug deep into the darkest parts of his own psyche—and managed to find, as he always does, a common humanity. For over 50 years, Backstage has been the most trusted place for actors to find jobs and career advice, and for casting professionals to find the right performers for their projects. “In the Envelope: An Awards Podcast” features intimate, inspirational interviews with some of the most exciting actors and awards contenders working today. Check out more here: https://bit.ly/2OMryWQ In the Envelope Twitter: twitter.com/InTheEnvelope Backstage Twitter: twitter.com/backstage Facebook: f

Ron Cephas Jones is proof that success in the entertainment biz, with patience, perseverance, and passion, can be achieved at age 60. After years of studying acting and jazz, scraping by with odd jobs in New York and Los Angeles, and balancing both fatherhood and downtown theater artistry, Ron is now Emmy-nominated a second time for NBC’s Dan Fogelman drama “This Is Us,” where he is beloved by fans as the poetic William Hill. The acting guru is looking back on an impressive career on both stage and screen—and is also clearly just getting started. For over 50 years, Backstage has been the most trusted place for actors to find jobs and career advice, and for casting professionals to find the right performers for their projects. “In the Envelope: An Awards Podcast” features intimate, inspirational interviews with some of the most exciting actors and awards contenders working today. Check out more here: https://bit.ly/2OMryWQ In the Envelope Twitter: twitter.com/InTheEnvelope Backstage Twitter: twitter.com/back