Navigating The Crowded Room: Amanda Seyfried & Sasha Lane Share Their Experiences

0:00 In this episode of Pop Culture Weekly, it's all about Apple TV pluses the Crowded Room. Let's go Welcome to pop Culture Weekly with Kyle McMahon from My Heart Radio your pop culture news, views, reviews and celebrity interviews on all the movies, TV, music and pop culture YU Creve Weekly. Here's Kyle McMahon nant. Hello, and welcome to pop Culture Weekly with Kyle MCMANI of course m Kyle McMahon, and this episode is all about Apple TV plus is the Crowded Room. I can't say enough about this limited series. It is really really powerful, really incredible. It's thriller, it's tight, it's intriguing, it's deep. It centers around Tom Holland, who It takes place in Manhattan in nineteen seventy nine and Tom Holland is arrested for a crime and then an investigator is trying to solve the mystery behind it. Amanda Cifred plays the investigator. Tom Holland is the man you know, a thought to do this crime. It is really really really good. Again, I can't stress enough how good this is. I can't really say too much because it's very twisty

1:36 and I don't want to give you any spoilers. To be honest, I just want you to go in and love it as much as I did. Do yourself a favor. Don't look up spoilers, you know, enjoy the series for how it's meant to be, you know, going cold it is, well, it will be well worth it that way. So, having said that, on last the last episode, I was at the red carpet premiere of the crowded room at the Museum of Modern Art. I'm really upset because so I interviewed, you know, most of the cast and Amanda and Tom Holland I was next to interview him, and then he got done with the person right next to me while I was still interviewing Amanda and so as publicist, which I totally get, you don't want I'm just standing around, but as publicist, was like, all right, well let's go in, and I'm like, I dude, I'm next, and I'm last. I'm the last person he has to talk to. So I missed my interview with Tom, but that's okay, Well we'll get him for the next project, you know. So those were my stand up interviews at at on the red carpet. Today is my sit down interviews, So I talk with Amanda Cifred and Sasha Lane. Amanda, of course, you know, I've talked to her before, and she's an incredible actress, Emmy winner, Oscar nominated, really really incredible actress. I also talk with Sasha Lane, who Sasha you may know from Loki where she played Hunter C twenty in season one of Loki

3:09 in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and she was in Daniel Isn't Real and Amazing Stories and really cool. She was also in a Hellboy the twenty nineteen one and she's just a really great actress, really cool person, and I'm really glad to talk to her again. You know, I'm trying not to do any spoilers in these interviews, so it's like difficult, you know what I mean, because I want you, guys to when you're watching, I want you to I don't want you to listen to the show, my show, this show that you're listening to now and then be like, oh man, well now I know that part because this is it's very important to the series that you not know anything. So without further ado, let's just get right into it. Let's let's start with my interview with Sasha lay. So this series is extremely powerful. It's riveting, edge of your seat. I really really love it. For you, what attracted you to the project? I think I'm I've always been a big fan of psychological thrillers. I love a good like puzzle piece. I also really love the emotional aspects to it, you know, about compassion and healing and all of that. So it's just kind of like an instant yes for me, m and for you. You know, as I was, you know, watching, I kind of was

4:41 thinking of the you know, the filmmakers and the cast and all. I feel like you would need a chart to kind of have it all, you know, laid out before you as you're filming. Were you only getting the parts that you needed or were you able to kind of see the whole picture before you went into shooting? Like, do you mean if I got the full script or if I was kind of able to focus on everyone else's Yeah, exactly, Like did you get the full script so you could kind of get the whole picture of who your character is in this bigger picture? Yeah? I think a little bit before we went into production, they were kind of gradually handing out the episodes because they were still tweaking them a little bit, so it was almost like a discovery of my own character as I was waiting to start, But it was it was nice to be able to then, It's nice to be able to get the full concept. Obviously I was a fan of it, so I wanted to read it myself. But then because there's so many like separate parts to it, in separate kind of groups of characters, I've then just kind of zeroed in on my world and who I interacted with. And how is that for you? How are you able to kind of to kind of do that where I mean, obviously you're an actor, you're a pro, but you know, mentally, how are you able to kind of separate yourself from this broader picture and bring what you want

6:15 to bring to her? I think, I guess it's kind of how you might just function in everyday life of Okay, I know my end goal is here and this is what this world could look like, But I'm focusing on today because that's what's important, is right now, Versus if I started thinking about the weekend, then it's all going to get consumed and you know, you won't be able to like focus as deep. So for me, the rest of the story almost doesn't matter, especially if I'm not meeting them or if I'm not that has nothing to do with what I'm doing today in terms of what Arianna is doing that day. You know, so I think it it's probably a little bit easier than it sounds, I guess, at least for me. I like to kind of zero in on something. I love that, and that's actually a great, great kind of take home for all of our lives. We could just focus on, you know, right here, right now, we won't have to get anxiety about tomorrow or what maybe Ina. I think it's a good thing with you know, a person who struggles with anxiety. It does help me to be like I, that's not even happening yet, there's no point, and she's going to stress me out for no reason when this is what my and I'm being a mom too.

7:34 You're like, I can't think about tomorrow too deep because right now it's dinner time, right right. I love that my therapist quickly, my therapist said one time, do what your dog does. And it took me a while to get that, and then I'm like, wow, my dog Blue is always just in the moment, you know, as dogs are. You know, they're not worried about you know, tomorrow or next week or next month. They're worried about right this moment. And I love that so true. Yeah, that's a good one. That's a good one. Thank you so much, Sasha. I can't wait for everybody to see The Crowded Room. It's such an incredible series. Thank you for your time. Have a good day, Sasha Lynne. Really great person, really good actor, really does an amazing job in the Crowded Room. Again, I can't say much.

8:22 I feel like I'm being so mysterious, and I am, but it's for your benefit, I promise, all right. Next up, Emmy Award winner, multiple Emmy Nams. She won four. Last year's The Breakout, of course, which we talked to her. I talked to her for She's been a MoMA, me, a mean girls, all kinds of great films, and she is really amazing in this. I'm telling you there's gonna be Emmy Nams for this too. So without further ado, let's talk with Amanda Cyphred. So, first of all, I want to congratulate you on this. It is such an incredibly powerful, thought provoking series and you do an amazing, amazing job in it. I absolutely love it. I really do.

9:11 Thanks, of course, So let me ask for you. You know, a chunk of this series UM takes place just you and Tom, you know, in a room almost like a play. Do you find that more challenging or less challenging than you know, say something like Mama Mia or something where there's you know, all these people kind of all around you for most of the project. It's it depends, it depends, I guess. You know, when you're thinking about physicality, it's a lot easier because you could just to sit back and in some ways you're relaxed in a way that you wouldn't be when you're dancing around uh you know, a cliff side. But I and the you know, the coordination and the the that just that physical intensity can can be really fun and actually make things easier. But in this, in this respect, it's kind of like the meat. It's kind of like what I love about acting most is that human connection. And when there's nothing around else to distract, you can really get pretty deep and and it's and it's and it can get pretty silent and pretty tense, and little nuances pop out in ways that you don't You just don't see and you aren't affected by when it's grand and super comedic, and you know, it just depends on the genre, and depends on the subject matter, and depends on the circumstances.

10:37 And in this in this sense, I felt like we had so much room to play in this interrogation room and to build too. We built so much on the on these characters. When they really started coming together and connecting and and caring about each other and trusting each other, was magical to shoot. I love that, And does that I'm not an actor, so I don't know, But does that scare you? That vulnerability, that focus where it's just just the two of you. I know you said it excites you and all, but I feel like for me that'd be terrified. Oh well, you're pretty stripped down. You know. It's just the bare minimum, and you know, the cameras are close and they're just moving all around trying to trying to capture as much as as they can. And I don't know, it can be terrifying if you don't like the person sitting opposite you.

11:31 It can be it can be hard, it can be a struggle, But but it was It was fun because we we had the same level of enthusiasm for our characters and for the story and for what was developing between us, and so it didn't it felt really safe. Actually, I love that, and I think that's so important, and I think it ends up showing in your work. It's it's really an incredible series. I can't wait for everybody to see The Crowded Room. Thank you so much, man, thank you, thanks so much. Of course, have a great day, Amanda Sifriend. I cannot wait for you to see The Crowded Room. It is out today on Apple TV plus. It is so so powerful, so twisty, so psychological, so thrilling, so edge of your seat so good. It is so good. Let's talk about episode one, okay, because I can.

12:35 I can do that once you've seen episode one. But I need to talk to people about it because you know, I've seen it. I've seen the whole soul and have been unable to talk about it for a month. So let's talk about it. Hit me up on socials, Facebook, whatever, I mean, I guess Twitter, but Instagram, read it wherever, and let's talk the Crowded Room. If you didn't listen to the last episode. Go back and listen to it. It's my red carpet interviews with the cast of The Crowded Room. All right, I'll see you next week. I love you. Yeah. Thank you for listening to pop Culture Weekly. Here all the latest at pop Culture Weekly dot com, Croudy, Crowded, Crowd