John Turturro Does It All

This week, we're joined by one of the greatest American actors working today: John Turturro. If you know anything about movies, you're probably a Turturro fan: From Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing to the Coen brothers' Barton Fink and The Big Lebowski, Turturro has been a powerful cinematic presence who always goes to unexpected places. Most recently, he has been widely acclaimed -- and Emmy-nominated -- for playing the rabble-rouser Irving on Apple's hit sci-fi show Severance. Turturro's unique talent branches off in many directions. It enables him to play angry, funny, confused...sometimes all at once...and when you see his face on the screen, he always makes you lean in.

Actors capable of such exacting performances are, in their own way, first-rate storytellers. That's especially true for Turturro, who has directed five films, including one of the best musicals of the 21st century -- the boundary-pushing blue collar dramedy Romance and Cigarettes, screened at the Playhouse for its 20th anniversary this past month. The occasioned marked the first 35MM screening at the theater. Before the event, Turturro sat down with the Playhouse to talk through the unique nature of his talent on both sides of the camera, as well as his evolving relationship to fame.