The Bottom Line
Pros
- Discusses the art of acting
- Celebrities more revealing with James Lipton
- More in-depth interviews than other shows
Cons
- Sometimes pretentious
- Sometimes plodding
Description
- Airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on Bravo cable channel
- Debuted in 1995.
- Each interview is about three hours long, but is condensed to 45 minutes for the program.
- Five guests have smoked: Jeanne Moreau, Sean Penn, Russell Crowe, Johnny Depp, and Dave Chappelle.
- Legend suggests that a man left suffered a hernia while laughing at Robin Williams.
Guide Review - Overview: Inside the Actor’s Studio
For a lot of people – myself included – Inside the Actor’s Studio is a guilty pleasure. Taped at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University's New York City campus, the show delves into the acting lives of today’s most popular actors, revealing a bit about their personality and craft that a viewer won’t find on any other program anywhere.
Lipton and his guest (one per hour-long episode) sit next to each other, Lipton behind a small desk and sporting his trademark blue notecards. Discussion usually centers around recent work, the acting profession, struggling to become a working actor, and some biographical information. Guests have included Lauren Bacall, George Carlin, Carol Burnett, Dave Chappelle, Tom Hanks and dozens more.
The most popular feature of the program is the Pivot Questions, ten questions by Bernard Pivot that Lipton asks every guest at the end of the program. They include What is your favorite word? and What sound to you hate?
The show is capped by a Q&A session between the guest and the student audience.
