Inside the Actors Studio

Infobox Television
show_name = Inside the Actors Studio


caption = "Inside the Actors Studio" logo
format = Talk show
runtime = 60 minutes; 120 minutes
creator =
developer =
executive_producer =
starring = James Lipton
opentheme = Angelo Badalamenti
country = USA
network = Bravo
first_aired = August 14, 1994
last_aired =
num_episodes =
list_episodes =
website = http://www.bravotv.com/Inside_the_Actors_Studio/index.shtml
imdb_id = 0169455
tv_com_id = http://www.tv.com/show/1931/summary.html

"Inside the Actors Studio" is the Emmy-nominated, longest-running original series on the Bravo cable television channel, hosted by James Lipton. It is produced and directed by Jeff Wurtz. The program, which premiered in 1994, is distributed by CABLEready and seen in 79 million American homes and in 125 countries around the world. It is taped at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University's New York City campus.

About the program

.In May 2005, the contract between the Actors Studio and New School University was not renewed. Beginning with the twelfth season, in the fall of 2005, the program has been taped at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University's New York City campus. The show now has a new set with a gritty backstage feel, designed by Will Rothfuss for Blair Broadcast Designs, and The Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University has re-opened in new facilities.

Since its premiere, "Inside the Actors Studio" has had over 200 guests. Of those guests, there have been 74 Academy Award winners: 8 directors; four screenwriters; 61 actors and actresses; and two musicians. While most of the show is a one-on-one interview conducted by Lipton, this is followed by the host submitting a questionnaire to the guest. The questionnaire concept was originated by French television personality Bernard Pivot, after the Proust Questionnaire. The ten questions Lipton asks are:

#What is your favorite word?
#What is your least favorite word?
#What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
#What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
#What sound or noise do you love?
#What sound or noise do you hate?
#What is your favorite curse word?
#What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
#What profession would you not like to do?
#If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

The program usually concludes with a question-and-answer session with the students.

In France, the show has been broadcast since 1999 on Paris Première.

Guests

* Ben Affleck * Alan Alda * Tim Allen * Lauren Bacall * Alec Baldwin * Antonio Banderas * Ellen Barkin * Roseanne Barr * Drew Barrymore * Kim Basinger * Kathy Bates * Ned Beatty * Halle Berry * Juliette Binoche * Cate Blanchett * Jeff Bridges * Matthew Broderick * Pierce Brosnan * Carol Burnett * Ellen Burstyn * Steve Buscemi * Gabriel Byrne * James Caan * Nicolas Cage * Michael Caine * George Carlin * Stockard Channing * Dave Chappelle * Don Cheadle * Glenn Close * Jennifer Connelly * Francis Ford Coppola * Kevin Costner * Russell Crowe * Tom Cruise * Billy Crystal * John Cusack * Willem Dafoe * Matt Damon * Geena Davis * Robert De Niro

* Johnny Depp * Cameron Diaz * Matt Dillon * Stanley Donen * Michael Douglas * Robert Downey Jr. * Julia Louis-Dreyfuss * Richard Dreyfuss * David Duchovny * Olympia Dukakis * Faye Dunaway * Clint Eastwood * Peter Falk * Sally Field * Ralph Fiennes * Laurence Fishburne * Jane Fonda * Harrison Ford * Jodie Foster * Michael J. Fox * Jamie Foxx * Morgan Freeman * James Gandolfini * Andy Garcia * Richard Gere * Danny Glover * Whoopi Goldberg * William Goldman * John Goodman * Hugh Grant * Lee Grant * Melanie Griffith * Gene Hackman * Tom Hanks * Ed Harris * Teri Hatcher * Ethan Hawke * Salma Hayek * Dustin Hoffman

* Philip Seymour Hoffman * Anthony Hopkins * Dennis Hopper * Ron Howard * Helen Hunt * Holly Hunter * John Hurt * Anjelica Huston * Jeremy Irons * Hugh Jackman * Anne Jackson (with Eli Wallach) * Samuel L. Jackson * Norman Jewison * Billy Joel * Elton John * Angelina Jolie * Tommy Lee Jones * Harvey Keitel * Val Kilmer * Ben Kingsley * Kevin Kline * Martin Landau * Diane Lane * Nathan Lane * Jessica Lange * Queen Latifah * Hugh Laurie * Jude Law * Martin Lawrence * Spike Lee * Jennifer Jason Leigh * Jack Lemmon * Jay Leno * Jerry Lewis * Jennifer Lopez * Sidney Lumet * Shirley MacLaine

* William H. Macy * Mary Stuart Masterson * Ian McKellen * Bette Midler * Arthur Miller * Liza Minnelli * Julianne Moore * Mary Tyler Moore * Jeanne Moreau * Eddie Murphy * Mike Myers * Paul Newman * Mike Nichols * Edward Norton * Rosie O'Donnell * Al Pacino * Gwyneth Paltrow * Sarah Jessica Parker * Estelle Parsons * Arthur Penn * Sean Penn * Bernadette Peters * Michelle Pfeiffer * Sydney Pollack * Natalie Portman * Dennis Quaid * Anthony Quinn * Robert Redford * Vanessa Redgrave * Christopher Reeve * Burt Reynolds * Tim Robbins * Julia Roberts * Chris Rock * Diana Ross * Mark Ruffalo * Meg Ryan * Mark Rydell * Susan Sarandon

* Martin Scorsese * Kyra Sedgwick * Charlie Sheen * Martin Sheen * Martin Short * Neil Simon * Gary Sinise * Will Smith * Stephen Sondheim * Sissy Spacek * Kevin Spacey * Steven Spielberg * Sylvester Stallone * Ben Stiller * Sharon Stone * Meryl Streep * Barbra Streisand * Donald Sutherland * Kiefer Sutherland * Charlize Theron * Billy Bob Thornton * Benicio del Toro * John Travolta * Mark Wahlberg * Christopher Walken * Eli Wallach (with Anne Jackson) * Barbara Walters * Naomi Watts * Sigourney Weaver * Forest Whitaker * Gene Wilder * Robin Williams * Bruce Willis * Debra Winger * Kate Winslet * Shelley Winters * James Woods * Joanne Woodward * Renée Zellweger

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thumb|right|200px|Taken_before_a_taping_of_Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University]

Ensemble guests:
*Cast of "Everybody Loves Raymond" (Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton, Brad Garrett, Doris Roberts, and Peter Boyle)
*Casts of "Law & Order" (creator Dick Wolf, Chris Noth ("Law & Order"; '), S. Epatha Merkerson ("Law & Order")); Christopher Meloni (') had to leave before his interview during the taping because of an illness he had that day, he was edited out of the introduction since he was not able to be interviewed during the show.
*Cast of "The Producers" musical (director Susan Stroman, Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick)
*Cast of "The Simpsons" (Nancy Cartwright, Hank Azaria, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Harry Shearer, and Yeardley Smith)
**Kavner left in the middle of the show for an unknown reason, leaving an empty chair for much of the show until it was removed during a commercial break. Kavner is known for not approving of doing her Marge Simpson voice in person, unlike the rest of the cast.
*Cast of "Will & Grace" (Debra Messing, Eric McCormack, Sean Hayes, and Megan Mullally)

External links

* [http://www.bravotv.com/Inside_the_Actors_Studio "Inside the Actors Studio" official website]
*imdb title|id=0169455