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A Cup of Coffee with Director Benny Safdie (‘The Smashing Machine’)

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Manage episode 512262625 series 3487750
Content provided by Lemonada Media. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Lemonada Media or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Director, writer, and actor Benny Safdie stops by Sam’s home this week to discuss his new film, The Smashing Machine (1:30)—an unflinching portrait of mixed martial arts icon Mark Kerr (7:00), played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (9:00).

In the second half, we revisit our conversation from 2023. There, Safdie unpacks his collaboration with comedian Nathan Fielder on their television series The Curse (44:30), the timely premise that inspired the show (47:20), and his history of capturing real-life personalities on film (51:20). Then, he describes his early connection to the 1979 movie Kramer v Kramer (54:20), a New York encounter with photographer Robert Frank (59:20), and how directors Robert Bresson (1:03:20) and Frederick Wiseman (1:03:50) opened his eyes to the possibilities of street casting.

We also dive into Benny’s co-directing work alongside his brother, Josh Safdie (1:05:15), a heartbreaking scene from their debut feature Daddy Longlegs (1:09:26), and the projects that followed (1:14:15): Good Time, Lenny Cooke, and Uncut Gems. To close, Safdie talks about why he worked as a boom operator while directing (1:20:00), his recent pivot to acting (1:21:23), and his full circle moment of playing an astrophysicist in Oppenheimer (1:33:20).

Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  continue reading

509 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 512262625 series 3487750
Content provided by Lemonada Media. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Lemonada Media or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Director, writer, and actor Benny Safdie stops by Sam’s home this week to discuss his new film, The Smashing Machine (1:30)—an unflinching portrait of mixed martial arts icon Mark Kerr (7:00), played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (9:00).

In the second half, we revisit our conversation from 2023. There, Safdie unpacks his collaboration with comedian Nathan Fielder on their television series The Curse (44:30), the timely premise that inspired the show (47:20), and his history of capturing real-life personalities on film (51:20). Then, he describes his early connection to the 1979 movie Kramer v Kramer (54:20), a New York encounter with photographer Robert Frank (59:20), and how directors Robert Bresson (1:03:20) and Frederick Wiseman (1:03:50) opened his eyes to the possibilities of street casting.

We also dive into Benny’s co-directing work alongside his brother, Josh Safdie (1:05:15), a heartbreaking scene from their debut feature Daddy Longlegs (1:09:26), and the projects that followed (1:14:15): Good Time, Lenny Cooke, and Uncut Gems. To close, Safdie talks about why he worked as a boom operator while directing (1:20:00), his recent pivot to acting (1:21:23), and his full circle moment of playing an astrophysicist in Oppenheimer (1:33:20).

Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  continue reading

509 episodes

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