Afleveringen
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There’s a multitude of reasons why Hazbin Hotel became Prime Video’s largest global debut for a new animated series. An especially big one, however? That voice cast. Creator Vivienne Medrano and her team hit it big casting every single character in the show, but there’s one in particular that’s a staggeringly perfect match; Erika Henningsenis Charlie Morningstar.
Hazbin Hotel is largely set in Hell where Henningsen’s Charlie, the daughter of Lucifer (voiced by Jeremy Jordan), is fed up with Heaven’s treatment of the souls in Hell. Due to overpopulation, once a year, an army of angels led by Adam (Alex Brightman) swoop down from Heaven and exterminate as many sinners as possible. In an effort to save her people and give them the second chance she thinks they deserve, Charlie creates the Hazbin Hotel, a place where sinners can be rehabilitated and then ascend to Heaven.
In celebration of Hazbin Hotel Season 1’s epic run on Prime Video, a run that sparked an enormous diehard fanbase and deserves some serious Emmy season love, Henningsen joined me for a Collider Ladies Night chat to revisit her road to Hazbin, to discuss her experience bringing Charlie to screen, and to tease what the future holds for the character.
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While celebrating Hazbin Hotel on Collider Ladies Night, creator Vivienne Medrano said she wouldn’t mind seeing the show run for six seasons, like her favorite show of all time, BoJack Horseman. “My favorite show went to six, so six would be cool!” However, she also noted, “The real answer is as many as they’ll give me, forever — forever and ever because there could always be more.” Given the monumental success of Hazbin Hotel Season 1, I’m a big believer Prime Video and A24 should defer to Medrano on this one, and give her whatever she wants!
Hazbin Hotel is something Medrano’s been working on since middle school. After years of honing the characters, she created an independently made pilot episode, after which A24 swooped in to help turn it into a series that Prime Video distributed in January 2024. Not only did the show premiere to glowing reviews, but it also became Prime Video’s largest global debut for a new animated series. But, perhaps most impressive of all was the fervent fanbase the show quickly amassed. Yes, Medrano and Hazbin already had quite the following via the pilot, which crossed 100 million views on YouTube in February, but the debut of Hazbin Hotel Season 1 on Prime Video undoubtedly increased that following exponentially.
The show puts the spotlight on Charlie Morningstar (voiced by Erika Henningsen), the princess of Hell. Due to overpopulation in Hell, angels swoop down from Heaven once a year to conduct a purge, wiping out as many sinners as possible. Charlie’s had enough of seeing her people perish and strives to change the system via her Hazbin Hotel, a hotel designed to rehabilitate sinners and get them into Heaven. Not only is Hazbin Hotel brimming with curious characters, wildly creative world-building and thematic heft, but it’s also a musical — and every single song on its soundtrack is a true banger.
The competition in the Animated Program category at the Emmys is fierce courtesy of iconic long-running series like The Simpsons and Bob’s Burgers, and new standout programs like X-Men ’97, but given the quality of Hazbin Hotel and the colossal passionate fanbase it's ignited, it deserves to be in the mix.
How exactly does one get from middle school doodles to spearheading an Emmy-worthy animated musical? That’s exactly what I covered with Medrano on her episode of Collider Ladies Night!
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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If you’ve seen The Wheel of Time and Fallout, there’s a good chance we had a similar viewing experience. The entire Wheel of Time ensemble is fantastic, but Season 2, which dropped on Prime Video from September 1 to October 6, brought in a new standout character, Renna, the Seanchan sul’dam responsible for making it an especially dark season for Madeleine Madden’s Egwene. As terrible as Renna is, you can’t take your eyes off her, and the credit for that goes to the actor in the role — Hollywood newcomer Xelia Mendes-Jones.
Cut to April 2024. Fallout hits Prime Video and becomes an instant sensation. The majority of the season puts the spotlight on Ella Purnell, Walton Goggins, and Aaron Moten, all of whom give powerhouse performances. With only eight episodes, a bunch of curious locations, a number of key factions to establish, and quite a few complex agendas unfolding, how does an actor with minimal screen time in just two episodes manage to make an impression? Ask Mendes-Jones, because that’s exactly what he does with his character, Dane, a member of the Brotherhood of Steel.
With screen presence like that, there’s no doubt in my mind Mendes-Jones’ star will continue to soar, so he instantly became a top priority guest for Collider Forces.
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We talk about the experience of “breaking out” in Hollywood a lot on Collider Ladies Night. There are many wonderful ways to have that moment in film and television, but Jessica Gunning has seen her star soar in an especially exciting way over the last month courtesy of the popularity of Netflix’s Baby Reindeer.
Based on his own personal experience which he adapted into an award-winning Edinburgh Fringe one-man play, the Richard Gadd-created series stars Gunning as Martha, Donny Dunn’s (Gadd) stalker. What Donny thinks is just a simple act of kindness, offering Martha a free cup of tea on a tough day, winds up being a life-changing exchange as she wedges her way into just about every part of his life. Not only does the relationship turn Donny’s day-to-day on its head, but the experience also challenges him to address some long-buried trauma.
Baby Reindeer isn’t some massive production with a significant monthslong promotional campaign behind it. It’s something that caught on in a big way, seemingly out of the blue, simply because it’s an exquisitely crafted and incredibly well-acted piece. While Gunning isn’t new to the industry by any means, the success of Baby Reindeer has instantly turned her into a highly recognizable name, one earning a good deal of Emmy buzz at the moment, and it’s inspiring many to check out her other credits, films like 2014’s Pride and the ongoing Prime Video series, The Outlaws.
In celebration of this extremely well-deserved game-changing moment, I welcomed Gunning to Collider Ladies Night to revisit her road to Baby Reindeer, to break down the nuances of Martha, and to discuss what it’s like becoming a bonafide Emmy contender.
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No role is easy, but at just 22-years-old, Freya Allan has already had to do a considerable amount of heavy lifting playing characters in dire situations with the weight of the world on their shoulders. After comparing the pressure The Witcher’s Ciri is under to the challenges her Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes character, Mae, faces in the film, Allan laughed and said, “Clearly they look at me and go, 'Yeah, she’s got a lot going on. She’ll do the job.’” Allan may have been humble about it, but roles like Ciri and Mae could never soar without an actor capable of capturing and giving an audience access to their complex internal worlds.
In Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Allan’s Mae finds herself forming an unexpected bond with Owen Teague’s ape character, Noa. It’s hundreds of years after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes. Apes are now the dominant species while humankind struggles to find safety. Given Noa’s grown up in the confines of his village and knows little of the outside world, he’s shocked when he encounters Mae and she isn’t some feral creature, but rather, a brave being of intelligence with wants and a drive that isn’t so different from his own.
With Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes arriving in theaters nationwide on May 10th, I got the chance to have a Collider Ladies Night conversation with Allan to recap her journey in the industry thus far, and to dig into her experience finding Mae and conveying her complicated contributions to paving the way to a brighter future for humankind.
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Welcome to a very special edition of Collider Ladies Night. Not only does this episode feature a personal favorite, but that favorite just became the first Ladies Night third-timer — Melissa Barrera. It was immediately evident that Barrera is an ideal Ladies Night guest during our first chat in January 2022 for Scream, one brimming with enthusiasm and passion for her craft, and for the art of filmmaking in general. That became even more undeniable after connecting at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival for Carmen’s world premiere, and then again in March 2023 for a second Ladies Night in celebration of the release of Scream VI.
One of the greatest joys of having two Ladies Night conversations a mere year apart with Barrera? Seeing how much she manages to accomplish in that short span, and hearing about how deeply she considers those experiences and how that impacts her goals and perspective on the industry going forward. At that point, making the independent feature, Your Monster, which just premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, heavily influenced her priorities for herself in filmmaking. In March 2023 she explained, “I had a mentality of like, I need to do something big to make a splash and to make a name for myself so that I can green light projects.” However, after working on Your Monster and also The Collaboration, that switched to, “I just want to do projects that speak to my soul and that stretch me.”
Perspective shifts happen often, and should. What good are our experiences if we don’t grow and learn from them? Barrera, however, powered through a rather seismic one since our last Collider Ladies Night interview after she was shockingly fired from Scream 7 due to social media posts regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. During this new Ladies Night interview, Barrera detailed how that and other recent experiences in Hollywood have heavily impacted her understanding of what she’s here to do. From there we lean into yet another new release that solidifies Barrera as a horror genre powerhouse, and bonafide movie star, her latest collaboration with Radio Silence, Abigail.
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If you’re a frequent Collider Ladies Night viewer/reader/listener, you’re likely well aware of my Yellowjackets obsession. I’ve been lucky enough to welcome many Yellowjackets cast members to the show, including Christina Ricci and Jasmin Savoy Brown, but there’s a certain someone who I was extremely disappointed to have missed out on while she was on the show — Ella Purnell. However, the time has finally come. Not only did I get the opportunity to talk a little Yellowjackets with Purnell, but we also got to celebrate yet another exceptional show of hers, Prime Video’s Fallout.
Purnell plays Lucy in the series adaptation of the hugely popular Bethesda game. She’s a vault dweller living safe and sound in Vault 33. They’ve got food, water, and a kind community with a neighborly vibe. Above ground, however, it’s the exact opposite. 219 years since nuclear bombs decimated the surface, everyone else is just trying to survive in an apocalyptic wasteland with little to no rules or morals. In an effort to find her father (Kyle MacLachlan), Lucy opts to do the unthinkable, leave the comfort of sheltered vault life behind to venture out into the ruthless outside world.
In celebration of Fallout’s big debut on Prime Video, Purnell joined me for a Ladies Night conversation to recap her journey in film and television thus far, and discuss how her career priorities have changed over the years.
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After a hugely successful seven-season run, Riverdale came to an end in August 2023 with its 137th episode. Yes, being part of such a show is a blessing, but there’s a significant amount of pressure that comes with answering the question, “What’s next?” Camila Mendes is powering through that pressure right now in a big way — as a multi-hyphenate.
Mendes stars in and executive produced her latest feature, Música. Director Rudy Mancuso also stars in the film as a young street performer from Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood. He’s in a relationship with Francesca Reale’s Haley, but is coming to learn that they might not be on the same page about how and when to find success and stability as a young adult in this world. Could Mendes’ Isabella be the solution? Soon after meeting her, he becomes convinced she understands him better than anyone. But, is it ever that simple?
With Música celebrating its big debut on Prime Video this week, Mendes carved out some time to join me for a Collider Ladies Night conversation to discuss her experience finding her way after Riverdale, and coming to realize that producing is of great interest.
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Nell Tiger Free is proving to be quite the genre powerhouse. After starring in four seasons of the widely acclaimed Apple TV+ series, Servant, alongside Lauren Ambrose, Toby Kebbell, and Rupert Grint, she’s now headlining a brand new Omen movie, The First Omen, directed by yet another soaring force in the horror space, Arkasha Stevenson.
The film takes place before the events of Richard Donner’s 1976 classic and focuses on Free’s character, Margaret. Margaret grew up in an orphanage where she suffered horrific hallucinations and visions. As a result, she was abused by the nuns in the facility. As a young adult, Margaret is in the novitiate phase and heads off to Rome to become a nun. While there, the pain she carries from her tumultuous childhood collides with the discovery of a sinister agenda unfolding around her, a combination that causes her to question her faith, and everything she thought she knew.
In celebration of The First Omen’s big debut, Free joined me for a Collider Ladies Night conversation recapping her journey from first discovering her passion for acting to finding an ideal collaborator in Stevenson while making The First Omen.
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One of the greatest joys of Collider Ladies Night is welcoming a guest back to the show and celebrating how much they’ve accomplished in such a short period of time. That’s the case with DeWanda Wise. She was on Ladies Night for her very first franchise film, Jurassic World Dominion, in 2022 and now she’s back as the star and executive producer of a Blumhouse horror movie.
Wise headlines Imaginary as Jess, a woman who moves back into her childhood home with her husband Max (Tom Payne) and her stepdaughters, Alice (Pyper Braun) and Taylor (Taegen Burns). Soon after moving in, the youngest, Alice, develops an attachment to a stuffed bear named Chauncey. Jess and Max brush it off as a charming connection between a child and her imaginary friend, but when Chauncey’s scavenger hunt becomes increasingly sinister and dangerous, Jess is forced to accept the fact that Chauncey might be more than a stuffed toy, and he might also have a connection to her own long-forgotten past.
Check out this edition of Collider Ladies Night to hear all about Wise's experience starring in and executive producing Imaginary, where she thinks the Jurassic World franchise should go next, the nightmarish note she received while preparing for Captain Marvel, and loads more!
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There is no doubt that this will be the first of many Collider Ladies Night interviews for Millie Bobby Brown. Not only has her acting career been soaring ever since the debut of Stranger Things back in 2016, but Brown is also using her rising start to influence certain projects for the better as a producer. She kicked off the Enola Holmes film series at Netflix wearing both hats, and now she stars in and executive produces her latest ambitious release for the streamer, Damsel.
Brown headlines the film as Elodie, a young woman who agrees to marry a handsome prince (Nick Robinson) in hopes that his kingdom’s riches will help her family’s struggling people. However, nearly immediately after the two are wed, Elodie discovers the truth behind their union; his family is using her as a sacrifice to repay an ancient debt. She’s thrown into a cave with a dragon, kicking off a story that subverts the traditional damsel in distress narrative. There is no savior. It’s up to Elodie to save herself.
During our Collider Ladies Night conversation in celebration of Damsel’s March 8th release on Netflix, Brown took a moment to look back on Stranger Things’ big debut, tease her upcoming film The Electric State, reveal the Damsel scene she feared she couldn't do, and loads more. Hear about it all straight from Brown in this Collider Ladies Night interview!
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Collider Ladies Night was created to highlight how an artist’s experiences paved the way to their latest achievement. There are often loads of highs along the way, but there can also be some more challenging moments, ones that heavily contribute to how one views the industry and how they’ll strive to change it for the better. A shining example of one such force in Hollywood? The Way Home star and executive producer, Chyler Leigh.
The Way Home is a Hallmark series in its second season. Not a frequent Hallmark viewer? Hear me out. Hallmark has a large fanbase and serves it well, but The Way Home has the potential to broaden that viewership. It’s a sci-fi family drama with a fascinating mythology and hugely powerful beating heart. Leigh plays Kat Landry, a woman who’s estranged from her mother, Del (Andie MacDowell), but winds up moving back into her childhood home with her, along with her teenage daughter, Alice (Sadie Laflamme-Snow). While there, Alice discovers that there’s a pond on the propriety with the power to allow certain people to time travel. The thing is, you can’t control where it sends you. The pond decides. And in Alice and Kat’s case, it decides to bring them back to the time when that rift between Kat and Del first formed.
In celebration of The Way Home’s Season 2 run on Hallmark Channel, Leigh joined me for an episode of Collider Ladies Night, and she came to play. I truly love all Ladies Night conversations, but this one is especially packed with hugely insightful and forthright stories about the reality of powering through the pressures of Hollywood.
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Sadie Laflamme-Snow shot out the gate and into Hollywood in a big way. Just a couple of years after graduating from the National Theatre School of Canada, Laflamme-Snow scored a lead role in a Hallmark series opposite two industry heavyweights, Andie MacDowell and Chyler Leigh.
Since premiering in January 2023, The Way Home has amassed an adoring fanbase that spans generations, and is credited with opening many minds to Hallmark content. Laflamme-Snow plays Alice, a teenager whose parents are on the cusp of divorce. Even though her mother, Kat (Leigh), is estranged from her mother, Del (MacDowell), they move back into her childhood home together, a house in a small farm town called Port Haven. While exploring the property, Alice makes a game-changing discovery. By jumping into a pond in the woods, Alice can time travel. But, Alice isn’t in control of where (when) she goes. That’s up to the pond, and it opts to send her back to 1999, the year that drastically changed Kat and Del’s lives and their connection to one another.
While celebrating The Way Home’s Season 2 run on Hallmark Channel, Laflamme-Snow took the time to join me for a Collider Ladies Night Pre-Party conversation to recap how she scored such a wonderful opportunity so soon after graduation, to dig into Alice’s evolution on the show thus far, and to tease some challenges the character could face in the second half of Season 2.
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As you’ll hear in this edition of Collider Ladies Night, Beanie Feldstein is a favorite. She’s a hugely talented individual, with a deep passion for the craft of acting who heavily values the opportunity to create with good people. There’s no doubt a good deal of that was in her from the start, but in revisiting her filmography in celebration of the release of her latest film, Drive-Away Dolls, it becomes abundantly clear that Feldstein is able to stand tall, deliver big and use her voice to change this industry for the better because she’s been well encouraged and supported by some of the best out there.
Feldstein plays Sukie Shankleman in Tricia Cooke and Ethan Cohen’s Drive-Away Dolls. Fresh out of a relationship with Margaret Qualley’s Jamie, Sukie is on the warpath. She’s a no-nonsense cop who isn’t about to let Jamie get away with breaking her heart. When Jamie and Geraldine Viswanathan’s Marian get mixed up with some criminals while road tripping to Tallahassee, Sukie has no problem giving the goons the information they need to put them hot on Jamie and Marian’s trail.
Collider Ladies Night interviews are meant to be career-spanning conversations touching on as many titles as possible. In Feldstein’s case, however, the interview often came back to one specific film, which is a beautiful thing. Feldstein told me, “Lady Bird changed my whole life and career.”
Check out what Feldstein told me about working with Greta Gerwig on her feature directorial debut, collaborating with "one of the single most brilliant people I've ever been around," Sarah Paulson, making Drive-Away Dolls with Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan, and loads more on this edition of Collider Ladies Night!
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Sophie Wilde’s work in Talk to Me is the epitome of a “breakout performance.” Not only did the film go from Sundance darling to one of the biggest smash hits of 2023, but Wilde herself received the praise she deserved for an incredibly demanding and exceptionally well executed lead performance.
In fact, Wilde’s work as Mia is one of the main reasons why Talk to Me is so much more than a cool horror movie with a super creative high concept. Yes, the A24 acquisition delivers big when it comes to the thrill of watching a group of naive teenagers willingly becoming possessed via the now-iconic hand, but much of the movie’s depth comes from how Mia’s grief makes her susceptible to losing herself in the midst of this sinister high.
In addition to being showered with critical praise and winning Best Lead Actress in Film at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, Wilde just scored one of the most coveted honors for a newcomer in this industry. She was nominated for the BAFTA’s EE Rising Star Award alongside Phoebe Dynevor, Ayo Edebiri, Jacob Elordi, and Mia McKenna-Bruce. Win or lose, the nomination alone is a significant achievement, one that often signals a long, illustrious career to come.
In celebration of that nomination, Wilde joined me for an episode of Collider Ladies Night to revisit some of her early steps in the industry and to recap her journey with Talk to Me.
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Kathryn Newton is taking over in the best possible way. At 27, not only has she already amassed a vast filmography, but it’s one that’s packed with variety and bold creative swings. She headlined a Paranormal Activity film, she’s part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, she was a comedy ace in Blockers, she stars opposite acting icons in HBO’s acclaimed series Big Little Lies, and she’s a certified horror genre powerhouse thanks to Freaky, Radio Silence’s next movie Abigail, and Zelda Williams’ wonderfully dark and charming feature directorial debut, Lisa Frankenstein.
Newton leads as the title character, a misunderstood teenager who feels alone in the world after her mother is axe-murdered in their living room. Lisa’s step-sister Taffy, played by the effervescent Liza Soberano, is always there to offer support, but the only one who can fill Lisa’s heart is a guy who died in 1837 (Cole Sprouse). One night, Lisa’s fantasy becomes a reality when a lightning bolt reanimates his corpse, kicking off a joyfully horrific adventure to help him regain his humanity — and his missing body parts.
With Lisa Frankenstein now in theaters nationwide, Newton took the time to join me for a Collider Ladies Night interview to revisit her journey thus far, including the pivotal moments that helped her tackle this delightfully bonkers monster movie with confidence.
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One of the greatest joys at a film festival is meeting an artist for the first time and knowing with certainty that, from that point on, you’ll always prioritize their work. I’ve been lucky enough to have a number of those encounters over the years, but two especially memorable ones are Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Aaron Pierre. I first met Harrison Jr. at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival for Luce, and for Pierre it was at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival for Brother, both breathtaking performances in exceptional films. In addition to the fact that both are bursting at the seams with talent, Harrison Jr. and Pierre are also artists who clearly ooze with deep passion and respect for the craft of acting. They're consistently true treats to chat with, so when the opportunity to host the very first 2-on-1 version of Collider Forces with the pair popped up, it was a must.
While in Park City for the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, Harrison Jr. and Pierre kicked off their promotional tour for Nat Geo's Genius: MLK/X. Season 4 of the award-winning anthology series stars Harrison Jr. as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Pierre as Malcolm X, delving into “their complex lives as husbands, fathers, brothers and sons.” By focusing on the moments between game-changing historical events, Genius: MLK/X offers an intimate look at how the icons questioned their resolve and decisions.
During their Collider Forces chat at the Collider interview studio at Sundance brought to you by Film.io, Harrison Jr. and Pierre revisited pivotal moments from their journeys in Hollywood thus far, highlighting some key crossover and shared experiences, but also emphasizing that every path in the industry is different.
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Reneé Rapp is one of the most exciting and inspiring forces on the rise right now in entertainment. Not only is she bubbling over with next level talent, but she also boasts a number of extremely admirable qualities, ones that can be hard for any artist to establish, let alone one just starting her career. Rapp operates with maximum conviction. She’s someone who knows what she wants, and has absolutely no problem advocating for herself. Even better? She keeps her collaborators’ best interest in mind while pursuing her own dreams.
Rapp is often in the spotlight courtesy of her flourishing music career and highly influential social media presence, but her name is in even more headlines than usual right now thanks to her feature film debut, Mean Girls. After playing Regina George on Broadway, Rapp returns to the role for the new Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. directed film. Mean Girls 2024 holds tight to the 2004 original, incorporates a slew of songs from the musical, and manages to put its own fun, fresh spin on the narrative.
In case you need the basics, Mean Girls follows homeschooled Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) after she moves back to the US from Kenya. Cady’s got absolutely no clue how to navigate the high school social scene, but fortunately, Janis (Auli’i Cravalho) and Damian (Jaquel Spivey) swoop in to give Cady the lay of the land at North Shore High School, most importantly, a warning about The Plastics led by queen bee, Regina George (Rapp). Trouble is, the appeal of popularity proves too powerful. While on a secret mission to expose Regina as a “mean girl,” Cady starts to lose herself in the thrill of being at the top of the food chain and becomes a “mean girl” herself.
With Mean Girls now playing in theaters nationwide, I got the chance to have a Collider Ladies Night chat with Rapp to discuss her journey with the Mean Girls franchise and where she gets her unflappable confidence.
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Carla Gugino has been quietly amassing one of the most diverse bodies of work in Hollywood, and it’s about time that’s recognized. She’s got a disaster movie in San Andreas, loads of family-friendly adventure films including Race to Witch Mountain, Night at the Museum, and the Spy Kids movies, and she’s currently soaring in the horror space with projects like Gerald’s Game and The Haunting of Hill House. We’d be here all day if I listed everything, but do give her lengthy filmography a quick scan. I’d be willing to bet that in almost all cases, consecutive projects fall in different genres.
Just recently, Gugino got the opportunity to show off a good deal of her seemingly limitless range in a single project, The Fall of the House of Usher. The stellar new Netflix series from Mike Flanagan and the “Flanafamily” focuses on Roderick and Madeline Usher, the extremely wealthy and powerful brother-sister duo pushing Fortunato Pharmaceuticals up and up while leaving a trail of dark secrets in their wake. They think they are untouchable, but when their heirs start dying one by one, they're forced to revisit past choices and reckon with Gugino’s character, Verna, or rather, “The Raven.”
While Verna is often seen in human form, she’s not. As Gugino has explained in the past, “She’s not the devil. She’s not even evil.” She added, “You could say she’s the executor of fate or the executor of karma.” Just before their death, each Usher sees a manifestation of Verna, and each version is different. It’s a one-of-a-kind challenge and Gugino absolutely soars while tackling it, so much so that she was just honored with a Critics Choice Nomination for Best Actress in a Limited Series.
In honor of that accolade, the success of The Fall of the House of Usher, and everything Gugino’s accomplished in film and television thus far, she joined me for a Collider Ladies Night conversation and offered up a closer look at how she did what many strive to do in Hollywood — avoid being “boxed in” and build a career with a wealth of unique creative opportunities.
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During our Collider Ladies Night interview, Maura Tierney emphasized that the role of Doris in The Iron Claw “was not an easy role,” which is plain to see in the finished product for a multitude of reasons. Not only is the new A24 film based on a staggeringly tragic true story, but, as a supporting actor in the movie, Tierney is also in a position where she must justify a number of a significant choices her character makes within a high-pressure family dynamic with minimal screen time. She does just that in the movie, delivering a performance that’s brimming with effective subtlety and subtext.
The Iron Claw is inspired by the true story of the Von Erich family. They’re Texas professional wrestling royalty with their sights set on rising even higher in the sport, a goal that’s dashed by a string of deeply gut-wrenching personal tragedies.
With The Iron Claw now playing in theaters nationwide, Tierney took the time to join me for a Collider Ladies Night interview to revisit her journey from early unforgettable credits including NewsRadio and ER to joining the cast of one of A24’s most anticipated releases of the year.
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