Ricky Gervais
With his exceptionally dry wit and keen understanding of the embarrassing side of human nature, Ricky Gervais was the creative force behind the television series "The Office" and "Extras." In addition to writing and producing both shows, Gervais played the lead in both series, which earned him numerous awards and praise from fellow writers and performers on both sides of the Atlantic. His talents have also earned him a spot in the Guiness Book of World Records for the world's most downloaded podcast called "The Ricky Gervais Show." Ricky and James discuss this record-holding project, which involves a strange, shaven, chimpanzee-like character.
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Sarah Jessica Parker
Carrie Bradshaw is a fashion icon, but was Sarah Jessica Parker a fashion maven before Carrie? Sarah Jessica shares with James Lipton that she was always aware of fashion because her mother taught her to love well-made clothing. The understanding of fashion was there for Sarah Jessica, but never the access and never to the same degree as Carrie. It looks like SJP's love of fashion rubbed off on her son as she admits that one of the first words he spoke was 'shoe.'
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Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Radcliffe shares what it's like to be naked onstage for his role as a disturbed teenager who blinds six horses in the Tony-winning play "Equus." Even though being in front of a live audience is never the most comfortable place to be naked, Daniel says once you take a job, you take everything that comes with it. The "Harry Potter" star thinks it's actually much more difficult to do the naked scene clothed than it is to do it naked because he takes on the character's vulnerability.
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Kyra Sedgwick
Surprisingly, Kyra Sedgwick refused to read the pilot script for "The Closer," because she was afraid to be away from her kids for six months of shooting. When she finally read it and got a nudge from husband Kevin Bacon to take on the role of Brenda Johnson, she couldn't refuse. Kyra immediately fell in love with the writers of "The Closer" and was happy that they let her further develop the character of Brenda.
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Chris Rock
One of Chris Rock's best parts was his portrayal of Pookie, a con artist street dealer whose undercover work leads to drug addiction and death, in "New Jack City." When a fan in the audience asks Chris how he prepared for the role, he answers that at the time there was a 'crack' boom in the black community and he would pass by real-life crackheads on his way to the set to play one in the film.
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Clint Eastwood
Inspector 'Dirty' Harry Callahan is arguably Clint Eastwood's most memorable character. "Dirty Harry" has been credited with inventing the "loose-cannon cop genre" that is still being imitated to this day. "Dirty Harry" led to four sequels: "Magnum Force" (1973), "The Enforcer" (1976), "Sudden Impact" (1983), and "The Dead Pool" (1988). Clint's portrayal of Dirty Harry has become an enduring icon of masculinity. Clint shares that Paul Newman was first offered the part, but passed because of its political undertones. Luckily, that didn't deter Clint from taking the role.
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Dave Chappelle
Entertainment Weekly reported that David Chappelle had flown from Newark, New Jersey to Capetown, South Africa, on April 28, 2005 and voluntarily checked himself into an unnamed psychiatric facility for treatment. Various theories were floated for the comic's apparent meltdown, including creative differences with Comedy Central over his series' envelope-pushing content, an inability to cope with his overwhelming success and an increased use of recreational drugs (long a staple of his on-screen persona). However, Chappelle insisted that he had merely embarked an a "spiritual retreat" in the wake of continuing creative frustrations and stress resulting from his Hollywood success, denying any drug use and saying that he had only had a 40-minute session with a psychiatrist while staying with friends in South Africa. David talks candidly to James about Hollywood and being labeled 'crazy'.
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Conan O'Brien
Because of his witty, self-effacing comedic style, Conan O'Brien rose to the top of late night television fame as host of NBC's "Late Night with Conan O'Brien." Even before landing that high-profile gig, Conan was already revered in certain circles for his writing and producing talents on "Saturday Night Live" and "The Simpsons." But did you know that Conan was a congressional intern? No, really! This experience made him realize that politics wasn't for him.
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