Robin Williams

Hello! As much as I'd like to think that this post is going to be read by James Lipton, I don't know if that is going to happen. However, I would like to share some thoughts that I have. Inside the Actors Studio is a one of a kind program which is the quintessence of good television. It is profound and real withouth sharing the infamous traits of 'reality television'. The virtues of IAS are numerous but for me one stands above all others. That is - simply through clips posted on youtube, this program has enriched a person like me who simply harbours deep and passionate love for cinema and television beyond all measure. Since as far as I can remember I have been interested in the person behind any role, or the person behind any camera. Simply watching promotional interviews before a movie opens in theatres has never been enough for me. And then I discovered the world of IAS. Thank you, James Lipton, for creating this forum not only for art but for life itself. As for the 250th episode and any other that should come after it - I can only ask to please introduce us to three names - Daniel Day-Lewis, Jack Nicholson and Quentin Tarantino. The word genious has been overly abused when it comes to actors and artists in general. Those three, however, come as close as it gets to the embodiment of that word. Thank you, Inside the Actors Studio, for your platform and for the immense joy that you have brought me with the series. Happy 250th episode and look forward to the next 250. 

Please please bring Alan Rickman and Jason Isaacs to the show. I really would love to see them :)

how about quentin tarantino or even david o. rusell or any other mammoth director in david lynch or terrence mallick or baz leuhrrman

My favorite episodes are Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams, Glenn Close and Kevin Spacey

I would love to see David O. Russell, Claire Danes, Paul Thomas Anderson, Paul Giamatti, Diane Keaton, Gary Oldman, Frances McDormand and Annette Bening.

1. Sir Michael Caine, Peter O'Toole or Tom Hanks

They have a million interesting stories to tell about people they've worked with and it's very enjoyable!

2. Maggie Smith

3. Jack Nicholson

I enjoy the show, it makes me a little envious to see and hear how things turned out for the actors/actresses. (just how human we really are). It's funny just how I sat in front of the TV and mimicked the sounds, voices, to be like them. Fate just turned a different dial and I became  a medic/fireman. I like the real time history, keep doing wht your doing.

Thanks for the entertainment 

Bradley Cooper gave the best interview of all time on your show. Not only because he is a graduate of your school which made it personal and certainly more interesting for your present students enrolled. 

He brough such genuine spark  and knowledge to he show.  We tend to look at actors or those who are in the Hollywood scene as unreal.  Bradley showed his heartfelt kindness and opened himself up to showing his emotions.  It was absolutely wonderful.  He's not only very real but an excellent actor who offers so much to those who want to learn from his experiences in the acting profession as well those who are just curious about him.  I hope you bring him back on your show.   ...   Which brings me to another question..  Is your show still on?  I cannot find it in my tv lineup.   If not, it's a shame as it was the best show on tv.

What about the cast of BREAKING BAD? They've garnered as many nominations and wins as MAD MEN. Bryan Cranston has won an unprecedented 3 EMMY awards for his work as Walter White, year after year they garner DGA nominations, Emmy Nominations, Golden Globes, and now with Bryan's SAG win last night, I think the show deserves a shot on the Inside The Actor's Studio stage, yes? 

Can we get a screenwriter on the show? I don't remember ever seeing one besides actors/directors who also wrote. I'd like to see a writer who is mainly known for writing. And please no Lena Dunham. She's been everywhere lately...

As much as I would love to see someone from the old days - they are all long gone.

Just think of what Billy Wilder, Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant, Audrey Hepbun (the list would be endless) could talk about.... but we are tooooooo late for that.

So let's think about what amazing talents have not yet been interviewed on the Actors Studio.

Let's talk Directors:

Quentin Tarantino, Coen Brothers, Ang Lee, Woody Allen,...

Actors:

Evan Rachel Wood, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Emma Thompson, Joaquin Phoenix, Kenneth Branagh, Keanu Reeves, Ewan McGregor, Sean Connery, Allan Rickman, Scarlett Johansson,..

Musicias:

David Bowie, Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, U2,...

TV Series:

True Blood, Castle, 30 Rock, Revenge, Bones, Good Wife, Grey's Anatomy, Boardwalk Empire,....

Just to name a few!

XoXo

I love this show, My favorites were Johnny Depp, John Travolta and Robin Wiliams.  I would like to see the cast of NCIS on he show. 

This is an incredible series that should be cataloged and sold as a training guide for those who want to become an actor, director or producer...it is a Ph.D program in the motion picture industry and theater. Should it happen please count me in...

I think Jack Nicholson would be a really good choice.

You sir, are an inspiration and master... if I had a particular request for this special vote of who to interview next... I would pick not someone on the behalf of the class, but on the behalf of yourself, sir. The long standing master of interviews should have the long standing master of televised journalism- Dan Rathers- in a sort of dueling interview. THAT would be both epic and poetic.The format could then be a matter of a debate style interview , possibly establishing basic and simple rules the person has the option of recanting the previous question to the interviewer or supplementing a new question... so control of the interview is given but never fully in control of the person at the head.

Message to Mr. James Lipton --  The JOHN HURT Interview

Dear Mr. Lipton, about 15 years ago, you interviewed the great British actor, John Hurt on Inside the Actors Studio. This segment has never become available to the public, on VHS, DVD or on the YouTube. Any chance you could tell us where a copy could be viewed, or obtained?

Thank you, indeed.

One of my very favorite episodes was when Mr. Lipton changed chairs and answered questions that he usually asks. My favorite moment from the show was when I learned an interesting bit of information about his wife and her Scarlet past.

I would love to see Claire Danes, Jared Leto, or Leonardo DiCaprio! Claire Danes is my first choice!

I realize Inside the Actors Studio focuses mainly on actors, but I would like to see interviews with documentary film directors including Michael Moore, Ken Burns, Davis Guggenheim, Oliver Stone, etc...I think the audience would be fascinated to understand the art of story-telling, particularly around true historical events and the lessons we can learn from them and apply to current times. 

Jared Leto might be interesting too. 

GARY OLDMAN. 

Please! 

I think you should have The Walking Dead cast on the show. Or just Norman Reedus, maybe do a Boondock Saints interview. Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flanery have such great chemistry! I'd really like to see it.

I think you should get The Walking Dead cast on here, at least Norman Reedus. Or do a Boondock Saints interview. I just love the chemistry between Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flanery.

....When Clint Eastwood revealed that he keeps his set as quiet as possible to not distract his actors or pull them out of the story that they are trying to concentrate on preparing and creating. All directors should take this leaf from his book. The more an actor can be allowed to concentrate on the task at hand, the better and fuller will his/her acting become, and the better the story will be told.

I think Clint Eastwood struck genius by applying this method of on-set silence.  Yes, a good actor should have his ways to meditate and stay focused, but it makes it all the more easier for him/her to do so, when the lighting technicians aren't guffawing in the background. Film may be more of a directors medium, but the actor will undoubtedly shine brighter when the crew understands the creative process of the actor. The actor will find it easier to be foaming with creative discoveries when the director can monitor all potentially distracting behavior as closely as the actor themselves would desire.

It's the etiquette of collaboration. The actor waits for the gaffers and set design to perfect their duties—the crew should be just as patient and invested in the actor's process, so that both elements can achieve a symbiosis of supreme story-telling! 

- Eamon J. Fahey

Steve Carrell and Ricky Gervais are also incredible. 

Tina Fey is the loveliest. 

Eminem would be interesting. 

David Blaine. Kenneth Branagh. Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep, Julian Schnabel, Tim Burton/Helena Bonham Carter, Woody Allen, Darren Aronofsky, Terrence Malick, Paul Thomas Anderson, CHRISTOPH WALTZ. David Lynch. Alejandro González Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón, Lars von Trier, Christopher Nolan, HAYAO MIYAZAKI. Joaquin Pheonix. 

1. Daniel Day-Lewis. 

If he declines. insist that you will do a private interview with him and then air it. 

Daniel has possibly more to offer about the craft of acting and character work than any other working actor today. The real challenge is having him reveal his secrets, or at least mumble  some of his personal tips.

2. Christian Bale.

Same situation - insist a private interview with no audience. He is one of the hardest working actors out there, and is constantly looking to improve himself. This is a godly characteristic.

3. Johnathan Caouette (director of "Tarnation"). 

4. Roger Ebert, Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Stephen Sondheim, Bernadette Peters. 

The Actor's Studio should worship those that worship the craft; those who are humble and will not see that chair as a throne to dictate what is "right", but to humbly offer their philosophies, their specific points of view and to hopefully reveal what makes them unique creators. 

We don't need to see celebrities, we need to see artists - people that dedicate themselves to the higher power of creative collaboration and development. Javier Bardem is good too. Or the Coen Brothers, if they haven't appeared already. 

By the end of each episode, it's nice to experience the personality of someone who has remained a mystery to us. But I'd like to see even a deeper approach to the questions being asked. James, I'd love for you to include a question in your seismic stack of blue cards that asks, "1. What were your dreams at the beginning of your career? 2. How did you go about pursuing those dreams? What are your dreams currently?" 

Let's learn about the psyche of the great actors, let's learn how they go about problem-solving through the normal course of their lives, and we can deduce how they have achieved the success that placed them in that chair. 

Just some ideas I hope are taken seriously. Thank you :)

Sincerely, 

Eamon J. Fahey

eamonjfahey@gmail.com

What I would really like to see is Will Ferrell (as James Lipton) interviewing James Lipton and  hearing James' answers to the magic questions. We have heard all of his guest's answers - I really want to get an insight into James inner psyche....and hear his favorite curse word.

My favorite interview was SUSAN SARANDON.  Rapport between you and she was brilliant!  Favorite comment?  "I don't think you should hold your breath for that Rest Area."

Suggest for interview:  DERMOT MULRONEY.  Multi-talented fellow and, for years, turns in fine acting performances.  Example? Acting magic between him and Holly Hunter, and with Sigourney Weaver, in "Copycat." 

Note to IAS producers re the Episodes Guide:  Jack Lemon is Jack Lemmon, and Steven Spielbergg is more commonly known as Steven Spielberg.

Hello. Is anybody home? Does anybody care?

Or, if not Miss Redgrave, how about Jack Nicholson?

Why don't you make a list of, say, 25 actual  possibilities and let the viewers choose from that list.

Lots of great suggestions here, but my absolute, almost to die for favorite would be Vanessa Redgrave.

I would like to see Angelina Jolie on again or clips from her original appearance.  She was refreshingly grounded, devoid of ego, uniquely talented and a well rounded, well evolved human.  Your show did an excellent job of capturing her depth and humanity.  Bravo!

I would like to see Norman Reedus appear on your show. I believe he is very talented and nuanced actor. @wwwbigbaldhead

I would love to see Stephen Spielberg again. I particularly appreciated how he talked about using a wider view so that the audience could choose what to look at thus taking audience interaction of the movie into account as a personal perspective of the story line. Tom Hanks and David Chapell were favorites. Thanks for being around this long. I look forward to many more years!!

Viggo Mortensen.  Brilliant actor. 

Robin Williams, David Chapell, and Tom Hanks were three of my favorites but I want to put Anthony Hopkins in there too. And it's hard to choose four. They are all good actors and hate to leave anyone out or any program. They are all good. Love them all. Can't wait to see the next show. 

I think your're missing Danny Trejo,Philip Seymour Hoffman,Luis Guzman,John Legiuzamo,Liev Schreiber, and Liv Tyler.

Robert De Niro, Johnny Deep and Liam Neeson definitely top 3 for me ...I would like to see Spielberg, Lucas, Coppola & Scorsese on the same stage and have guest appearances of actors from their films ...would cover a LOT of bases OR you could do the cast and creator of Downton Abbey ( I think that would be fantastic to have actors from  PBS on..they are really in it for the love of their craft )

Javier Bardem.  He was fantastic in the new Bond movie.  Very versitile. And sexy!!!

Jack Nicholson would be terrific but how about Daniel Day-Lewis, the man who seems to have never got it wrong? 

I think the perfect person to interview is Christopher Walken.  I think he has played more different characters than anyone.  A marvelous actor. 

Also think Robert Blake would be great. 

 Why don't you interview one of the great character actors that have really helped make all the great films; it isn't always the lead actor you go to see if you really love movies.

The perfect guy for this show is someone who's been an actor for over three decades: Rob Lowe. He's "literally" done it all: tough-kid Greaser trying to hold his family together, bad-boy saxophonist seducer, unrepentantly wicked (yet comedic) henchman, patriotic democratic speechwriter, patriotic republican senator and now a delightfully patriotic enthusiast (about everything). Rob Lowe's career certainly reveals him as a remarkably versatile actor capable of both drama and comedy.Also, Rob Lowe needs to tell us what Aaron Sorkin's really like to work with. And why didn't he do a scene with Bradley Whitford on Parks and Recreation?

Zach Braff

Robert Downey Jr. I think would be an interesting choice.

Please have Julia Roberts back on your show for a second visit. 1997 is far too long ago, I find all your episodes deeply interesting but I was 7 when she first appeared on the show and think a new perspective on her career now would be amazing!!! 

Ok for a regular show, not the 250th episode, how about a lighting designer, a prop master, a sound engineer, a scenic designer.  Have I missed shows featuring a lesser known or unknown person cinematographer,  DP, producer, or  anyone from the rest of the acting, team family.  After all,  if there isn't lighting & great sound nobody could see or hear an actor of any caliber.  My favorite word?   Tech

Tommy Lee Jones would be good......Mark Harmon also (although he is a tv actor he is excellent on NCIS) .........Miss Val

just joined the blog.  I have been looking for the show for months now, I used to watch it every week on Sunday night but it hasn't been on for ages.  I gather from the posts that it is still being taped but why can't I find it.  I watched it on Rogers Cable at 5:00 EST every Sunday night. 

Mr Lipton Should Interview people like John de Lancie, Richard Dean Anderson, Kira Sedgwick... there are incredible actors on TV too!!!