Live From New York with Sam Rockwell (‘The White Lotus’)

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Oscar winner Sam Rockwell has established himself as one of the most versatile actors of his generation. In our recent sit-down, recorded at the Tribeca Audio Festival, we trace the arc of that career culminating in his season-stealing turn in The White Lotus.

We begin with his bifurcated childhood, split between San Francisco and New York City (10:00), falling in love with the movies of the ‘70s and ‘80s (15:30), the cathartic release of performance (18:05), advice from the late Gene Hackman on the set of Heist (21:28), his career-defining turn in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (23:14), and how he gradually began to lean into vulnerability as an artist (33:47).

In the second half, a tribute to Christopher Walken (34:45) and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman (38:32), a dissection of that scene from season three of The White Lotus (44:06), why he tapped into his childhood to portray Bob Fosse in Fosse/Verdon (50:50), and the monologue from Death of a Salesman (52:49) that started it all.

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And a special thanks to actor Spencer Neville for the assist on today’s introduction.

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