Awards Chatter

One of this year's biggest breakout stars — she won Golden Globe and SAG awards for her portrayal of young Queen Elizabeth II in the most expensive TV series ever made (Netflix allocated $100 million for its first two seasons) — reflects on auditioning while pregnant, playing a woman famous for hiding her emotions and growing as an actress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first openly gay host of a late-night talk show opens up about helping to create the reality TV era at Bravo, the positive and negative impact of the 'Real Housewives' franchise that he EPs and making the jump from suit to on-air personality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The irreverent British comedy genius behind ‘The Office’ and ‘Extras’ explains how his life informs his work, what it would take for him to host the Oscars (he’s hosted four unforgettable Golden Globes) and what it was like to revisit his most iconic character — who, he believes, paved the way for Pres. Trump — 15 years after he last brought him to life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recently hailed by New York magazine as “the funniest woman alive,” the two-time Tony and Emmy winner reflects on being part of the landmark sketch comedy series 'SCTV,' why she feels much more at home on Broadway than doing improv and discovering that she helped to inspire the likes of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The fast-rising stage and screen star reflects on entering showbiz as an out gay man, how his Tony-nominated 'Book of Mormon' perf led Lena Dunham to hire him for her groundbreaking HBO series and why he'll always return to Broadway (where he's also starred in 'Hamilton'). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the heels of his third Tony nom in four years, the Broadway star reflects on his journey from dinner theater to the Great White Way, where he's starred in movie adaptations ('Saturday Night Fever,' 'Legally Blonde,' 'Rocky' and 'Groundhog Day') and theater phenomena ('Wicked' and 'Jersey Boys') and now is doing eight shows a week with a fully-torn ACL. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Oscar, Emmy and Tony winner reflects on defying the odds and finding fame after 40, jumping between art-house fare (including two best picture Oscar winners) and blockbusters (five 'Pirates' films) and starring in National Geographic's first scripted series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

America's favorite astrophysicist, who splits his time between running a planetarium and hosting the first-ever TV talk show about science, shares how he learned to be media-savvy, what he makes of the anti-science Trump Administration and why he remains optimistic about the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The man who ran NBC during the 'Must See TV' era of the 1990s and then became one of TV's most successful producers discusses the secrets of programming a broadcast network, why his own shows go out via cable and streaming and what the future of TV will look like. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The pop star turned Golden Globe-nominated actress reflects on her early music (she wishes she could refund everyone who bought it), personal and professional struggles that followed (she almost quit showbiz as recently as two years ago) and the "reboot" made possible by the success of NBC's top-rated series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Best known for 'The Last Picture Show' and 'Paper Moon,' one of the 'New Hollywood' filmmakers at the vanguard of '70s cinema discusses rubbing shoulders with legends, the murder of his actress-girlfriend and why TV is now better than movies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 80-year-old late-night legend on his journey from the Corn Belt to ABC, why the label "intellectual" did his career no favors and which of today's talk show hosts he admires most. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 95-year-old actor/writer/director reflects on being a part of Sid Caesar's legendary 'Your Show of Shows' writers' room, how he and Mel Brooks created '2,000-Year-Old Man,' how a failed pilot came back to life as 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' and what keeps him writing, tweeting and laughing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No person in Oscar history has received more nominations without a win than this sound mixer, whose 21 noms span 33 years, and who explains how he does what he does and why the Academy's voting process has room for improvement. (2/26/17 update: O'Connell finally won!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 32-year-old, who already has directed two best picture Oscar nominees and is poised to become the youngest best director Oscar winner ever, reflects on the roots of his passion for music and movies, the Harvard pal who became his closest collaborator and the rollercoaster of a journey to realizing his dream of making an original movie musical. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 37-year-old who could become the first black person ever to win the best director Oscar reflects on how his tumultuous childhood has informed his work, the film school pals who have been by his side ever since and the causes and effects of the eight-year gap between his debut feature and his taboo-busting masterpiece. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 'Meryl Streep of France,' finally an Oscar nominee at the age of 63, discusses her close collaborations with Claude Chabrol and Michael Haneke, her attraction to "perverse, manipulative, icy" characters and the controversial new film for which she's received the best notices of her career. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Poised to become, at 36, the youngest EGOT in history, the creator of 'Hamilton' reflects on that groundbreaking musical's origins and success, realizing his lifelong dream of writing music for a Disney movie while at the center of his show's "wonderful tsunami," the roots of his love of music and theater and the ambitions he has not yet fulfilled. (And yes, there will be a 'Hamilton' movie.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 28-year-old critics' darling and fan favorite opens up about overcoming "debilitating" childhood anxiety through acting, moving to Hollywood at 15 (and changing her name and dyeing her hair), finding magical chemistry with Ryan Gosling in three films and, under the oversight of Damien Chazelle, breathing new life into the American movie musical. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 26-year-old Brit reflects on the life-changing impact of 'Slumdog Millionaire' — good and bad ("It was like being in a gold-plated cage") — and why he so aggressively pursued and transformed himself for the film for which he just became only the third person of Indian descent ever to receive an acting Oscar nom: "A script like this — a journey like this — is never gonna come around again." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices