Sunday Sitdown With Willie Geist

The 1998 film Shakespeare in Love won Gwyneth Paltrow an Academy Award for Best Actress and made her one of Hollywood's most sought-after stars. But fame began to take its toll. In 2008, she sent out the first Goop newsletter, a collection of recommendations for food, clothes and places to visit. Since then Goop has grown in to a successful, wide-ranging lifestyle brand. In this week's "Sunday Sitdown," Willie Geist gets together with the actress turned entrepreneur on New York's Long Island.

If it feels like you haven't seen as much of Jessica Alba on screen in the last decade or so, that's because she's been busy growing a business. For 10 years now, "The Honest Company" she founded has been a pioneer for clean products for babies, beauty and the home. In this week's "Sunday Sitdown," Willie Geist gets together with the actor and entrepreneur to discuss how she found her confidence in Hollywood and the business world.

In the 29 years since Jurassic Park debuted, Jeff Goldblum has taken on many roles, leaving his mark as a beloved character actor. In this week's "Sunday Sitdown," Willie Geist gets together with the multi-talented star to talk about returning the role of Dr. Ian Malcolm in this summer's blockbuster Jurassic World: Dominion, as well the jazz ensemble he leads on the side. 

The 1996 movie Swingers set Jon Favreau on a path to becoming one of the most successful and sought-after filmmakers in Hollywood. His directing resume now includes massive hits like Elf, Iron Man, The Jungle Book and the 2019 version of The Lion King, which made more than $1.6 billion at the box office while introducing groundbreaking visual effects. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the actor and director to talk about putting all of that experience behind his latest project, the docuseries Prehistoric Planet. 

In 1995, Emma Thompson took on the challenge of adapting Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility into a successful movie. She was rewarded with an Academy Award for her writing as well as a Best Actress nomination for her performance in that film, capping a run of five Oscar nominations and two wins in just four years. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the British star to talk about cementing her place as one of Hollywood’s most beloved actors and her latest, most revealing role yet in the buzzed about film Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.

In the three decades since leaving the law for writing, John Grisham has become one of the most widely read authors in human history. He has sold an astounding 350 million books, including 47 consecutive #1 bestsellers printed in 50 different languages. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with Grisham to talk about his leap from small town Southern lawyer to star novelist and his latest work, the novella Sparring Partners. 

In 2008, Lin-Manuel Miranda read Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton while on vacation and began envisioning something no one else could have seen – a hip-hop musical about America’s Founding Fathers. In this week’s Sunday Sitdown, Willie Geist gets together with the Tony, Emmy and Pulitzer-winning star to talk about creating the Broadway phenomenon Hamilton and his latest act as a film director. (Original broadcast date: November 21, 2021)

Ray Liotta may be best known for his breakout performance as real-life gangster Henry Hill in the iconic movie Goodfellas, a role that had the former soap opera star sharing famous scenes with Joe Pesci, Robert De Niro and Lorraine Bracco. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist re-visits a favorite conversation with the actor, who died this week at the age of 67. In one of Liotta's last interviews, they talk about that indelible movie and a career that took him from Field of Dreams to the Sopranos prequel film, The Many Saints of Newark.  (Original broadcast date: September 26, 2021)

For seven seasons, Jon Hamm played the hard-drinking, womanizing, 1960’s-era advertising executive Don Draper on the hit series Mad Men, a role that earned him two Golden Globe awards and an Emmy. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the actor to talk about the legacy of that show and his steady mix of comedy and drama since then, all leading up to his childhood fantasy of starring in the highly anticipated new Top Gun sequel alongside Tom Cruise. 

Mike Meyers is among the comedy greats who have walked the halls of Saturday Night Live, with his popular “Wayne’s World” sketch becoming an even more popular movie. After leaving SNL he introduced the world to the archenemies Austin Powers and Dr. Evil, and went on to voice a big green ogre named Shrek in a multi-billion dollar franchise. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the actor to talk about returning to the spotlight after nearly a decade away with his new Netflix series, The Pentaverate.

Academy Award winner Sam Rockwell is getting rave reviews for his return to Broadway in the revival of American Buffalo, where he takes on a famed role played over the years by stars like Al Pacino and Robert Duvall. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with Rockwell to talk about the Tony Award buzz around his performance, as well as his prolific career of roles ranging from George W. Bush in Vice to Bob Fosse in the hit series Fosse/Verdon. 

Janelle Monae has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards over the years without ever chasing the pop charts. Instead, she has created her own genre-defying artistic universe, with mentors and musical collaborators like Prince and Stevie Wonder guiding her along the way. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the music star turned author to talk about her latest project – writing a collection of science fiction short stories. 

Sienna Miller spent the early years of her career in the flashing bulbs and shouted questions of media outlets fascinated by her relationships and her style. But standout performances in movies like Factory Girl, Foxcatcher and American Woman have forced a change of subject. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the star to talk about her new Netflix series, Anatomy of a Scandal, which has her tapping into those trying years in the spotlight. 

You may know Jane Lynch from the Christopher Guest mockumentaries like Best in Show, or as the unforgettable Sue Sylvester on the hit show Glee, or more recently in an Emmy-winning performance on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the actress to talk about her latest role making people smile in the highly-anticipated Broadway revival of Funny Girl. 

In the three decades since scoring a platinum debut album as rapper Marky Mark, Mark Wahlberg has grown into a versatile superstar in Hollywood with a range that spans classic dramas like Boogie Nights, the comedy hits Ted and Daddy’s Home, and the blockbuster Transformers movies. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the actor to talk about his latest role in the film Father Stu, the extraordinary true story of a boxer turned Catholic priest. 

The multi-talented musician H.E.R. has worked to avoid becoming a package for pop cultural consumption, with her name and signature sunglasses meant to make the audience focus on the music and not on her. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the artist to talk about her meteoric rise from child prodigy to the heights of the music world, including winning a Grammy, an Oscar and performing at the Super Bowl. (Original broadcast date: July 11, 2021)

In its first month of streaming in the fall of 2020, Emily in Paris captured the attention of 58 million viewers and made actress Lily Collins a bona fide star around the world. But the 33-year-old’s latest role in the intense, claustrophobic film Windfall is a world away from Paris. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist talks to Collins about that new movie, as well as the global success of Emily in Paris and what it was like growing up the daughter of legendary musician Phil Collins.

It’s been 8 years since Seth Meyers took the Late Night baton from his friend Jimmy Fallon, carrying on a legendary legacy started by David Letterman in 1982. Before taking over behind that desk, Meyers spent over a decade at Saturday Night Live, first as a cast member, then as Head Writer and host of “Weekend Update.” In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the television host and comedian to talk about applying those writing skills to a new children’s book inspired by his three kids. 

A comedian by trade, and a young writer at Saturday Night Live in the years of Chris Farley, Adam Sandler and Chris Rock, Bob Odenkirk made a dramatic career turn in 2009 when he landed a role on the hit series Breaking Bad and later earned his own spinoff show, Better Caul Saul. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist talks to Odenkirk about a new memoir that documents that journey from SNL to dramatic actor all the way to action star. 

In 1994, Courteney Cox landed the role that would change her life and make her a star around the world – playing Monica Geller on the hit show Friends. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the actress to talk about what it was like living inside the bubble of the Friends phenomenon and her impressive career since then, including a successful run of Scream movies, the acclaimed show Cougar Town, and her latest horror comedy series, Shining Vale.