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[0:00] Michelle Simone Miller: Happy Mentor Monday, everyone. I'm your host, Michelle Simone Miller, and this is Mentors on the Mic podcast, your roadmap to the entertainment industry. I bring you incredible mentors in entertainment, focusing on how they started, how they moved up to where they are today, and the incredible projects that they're working on now. I'm so excited to do this line of episodes all about the Hamptons International Film Festival. I was lucky enough to get many incredible red carpets, and this episode is no different. I combined a couple really, really great interviews just to give you a short but sweet red carpet episode. Before I go into that, if you haven't yet, please follow on Spotify or subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts.

You do not want to miss a single episode. Please follow on social media, Mentors on the Mic and Michelle Simone Miller, where I'm going to be sharing clips from the red carpets. I'll also eventually be posting them on YouTube. I'm a little slower on that, but I have been doing it. And please follow on Substack. You can look up Michelle Miller on Substack or find the link in the show notes as well, where I'll be giving you behind-the-scenes on what it is to have a press pass at the Hamptons International Film Festival. All right, so let's get started. This particular episode is jam-packed with some really, really cool people, some great, great actors. The first one is an incredible narrative feature that was at the Hamptons International Film Festival called The Only Living Pickpocket in New York.

It stars John Turturro and also is directed by actor and director Noah Segan. And I haven't been able to see it, but it looks absolutely fantastic. I do want to see this at some point, if I possibly can. It's about an old-school hustler and a classic native New Yorker who moves through life greasing palms, relying solely on his wits and connections. So that's really exciting. I definitely want to see it. It looks really good. It has a great supporting cast, like Steve Buscemi, Giancarlo Esposito, Ed Timor. And we also, I got to talk to both John and Noah again, and this happens on both red carpets, so it is a shorter episode. I only got to ask one question, and that was one question to Noah and John, because just the craziness of the carpet.

There were so many people there, and they limited us to one, so I had to choose a really good one. But I felt really good about it, because after they both answered the question, they both shook my hand, and that felt really good. But yes, definitely, definitely check that out if you're able to. I know I will. And then I also got to meet and interview Jesse Eisenberg. He directed and wrote the movie The Debut, starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti, as well as many other actors. I think Bernadette Peters was also in this, if I remember. And this movie is about how, this is like a love letter to community theater, and it's sort of autobiographical for Jesse Eisenberg and his sort of childhood spent in the theater, in community theater, but also with this sort of storyline of a shy, unassuming housewife who turns into a zealous method actor.

And this is, yeah, this is just, Paul Giamatti is just this excellent sort of domineering director. Again, I didn't get to see this one either. These movies sold out really quickly, and I wasn't able to get a ticket, but I do want to see it. I will say, for my interview with Jesse, I only got one question for him as well, same reason. Just a really packed red carpet. There's only so much we'd be able to have time with him. We were told one question, so I had to choose one. And I will say, this was not my best in terms of video content with Jesse, because for some of the interviews this weekend, I got into frame with my guest, and for some, I just focused on their faces. So some will be really clear of Amanda Seyfried or Tim Blake Nelson or Tony Gilroy, just of their faces.

And some I stepped into the frame, and Jesse Eisenberg was one I stepped into the frame. So was John Turturro. But I did a better job with John and Noah Segan of sort of cheating out to camera, because when I did it with Jesse, I really just like stared into his eyes. He's super laser focused when he talks to you. He was really, really nice. And just in connecting with him, I felt really good about my one question as well. Let me know what you guys think about my one question for each. But there was just something really just, I don't know, mesmerizing about being able to talk to him and connect with him. But then later, I was like, oh, man, we were both sort of turned into each other and not at camera. So let me know what you guys think of that as well. But yeah, without further ado, here's John Turturro, Noah Segan, and Jesse Eisenberg.

[5:04] Michelle Simone Miller: Hi, guys. I'm also a fellow native New Yorker, so I'm very excited about this film. Happy to have you here.

[5:11] John Turturro: Thank you. My question is about the physicality in creating this character. So I'm going to give you this mic.

[5:17] Noah Segan: Yeah, I want to hear about the hands, the movement. How did you decide to physically approach it?

[5:22] John Turturro: We had Apollo Robbins. He wrote a wonderful script. And Apollo Robbins, who is a magician pickpocket, helped me a lot with the actual physical doing of it. Noah had a lot of research books about real pickpockets, men and women that usually work with teams. And it's a skill that was passed on for hundreds of years, really, when people carried cash and wore certain kinds of tie pins that were diamonds and rings. Rings were actually hard, but watches.

[5:59] Noah Segan: Yes, watches. So there was a steep learning curve. But I've never been arrested, so.

[6:06] John Turturro: Not yet.

[6:07] Noah Segan: Not yet.

[6:08] John Turturro: But we did have a line item. We had a line item in the budget in case John did get in trouble.

[6:13] Noah Segan: Yeah.

[6:15] John Turturro: Yes, yes.

[6:16] Noah Segan: I mean, I only usually did it with people that, you know, I knew wouldn't get upset later on.

[6:20] John Turturro: Because you didn't need to use that line item. What did you use it for instead? A really good party?

[6:25] Noah Segan: I don't know. I think we needed every dollar we could get.

[6:27] John Turturro: I think we were still a little over budget on the movie.

[6:30] Noah Segan: That's a beautiful script. I mean, it's got tension and it's got propulsion and it's also very tender because it's also about a man navigating a changing world and sort of coming to terms with what it is to actually really care about another person and the realization of that.

[6:49] John Turturro: And the action of it.

[6:50] Noah Segan: The physicality, you know, John has always been a physical actor, you know, and, you know, often, you know, we, I mean, we just, we see him. We see him, we see him, we see him dance. We see him move. We've seen him. We've seen him, you know, we've, we've seen him in the best and the worst of his physical, you know, you're, you're, you're, you're, you love movement.

[7:14] John Turturro: I like my, I think movement is revealing.

[7:16] Noah Segan: Yes.

[7:17] John Turturro: And it also brings like happiness. Sometimes, you know, you see a horse in flight, somehow it just makes you feel, you know, alive. So I think it's, it's a tool.

[7:29] Noah Segan: Yeah.

[7:30] John Turturro: And then that was, that was his training for this movie, you know, it was just like, you know, it's, I think, I think you approached it with the same sentiment that you approached all the physical, you know, you, you, you give, you give it your whole body. You know, everybody has a center. Like some people lead with their forehead. Some people lead with their chest. Some people lead this way. Some people, everyone has some kind, and that's from not just their bodies, but their psychological makeup. And you see it, you know, you have to see someone who is always leaning forward and you're like, you're a little too close, you know, or they're down. Yeah. I have a friend who's like that all the time. So that can tell you a lot about a person.

[8:13] Noah Segan: Thank you guys so much.

[8:14] John Turturro: Thank you.

[8:15] Noah Segan: Thank you.

[8:16] John Turturro: It's a pleasure.

[8:17] Michelle Simone Miller: Hi, this is Michelle Simone Miller with Mentors on the Mic podcast. And we're here at the Hamptons International Film Festival on the red carpet for The Debut, starring, directing, directed by music and lyrics co-produced, written by Jesse Eisenberg. How are you?

[8:34] Jesse Eisenberg: Oh yeah, I'm good. Thank you.

[8:36] Michelle Simone Miller: So I just wanted to ask you, so I, I'm an actor as well. I grew up in the theater. I know the sort of duality between the nerves and like the stress and the intensity of being in theater, but also the beauty and the magic. Can you talk a little bit about that and how inspired your story? And then I guess follow up, cause I only have one question, um, follow up, which would be, um, how did telling that from a different perspective help inform your work and inform what you wanted to say?

[9:02] Jesse Eisenberg: Thank you for saying all that. Um, yeah, I mean the, like what the character goes through in the movie is exactly what you just described. It's like the greatest thing in the world is for her to be in this show and because she loves it so much, it's the thing that scares her the most, which I think is always the case, you know, when you feel, um, scared and excited, it usually means you want to do it well as opposed to just scared, which is you should run away from that. Um, but like, so with this, and that's what it was for me. I had this really strange feeling when I was doing a, uh, you know, I do like plays in New York and I was in my plays and I was so nervous to go to the, you saw it?

[9:36] Michelle Simone Miller: I've seen your plays.

[9:37] Jesse Eisenberg: Oh wow. That's very, wow. Thank you very much. That's surprising to me. Um, it's like, um, I always felt like I'm so, so nervous, like freaking out to go to the theater, but I always think the only thing worse than going to the theater tonight is staying home. Do you know what I mean? So it was like this thing that was very scary, but at the same time, I wanted it more than anything. I wanted to do it more than anything.

[9:55] Michelle Simone Miller: Did you feel it when you were on stage or was it always kind of off when you were in?

[9:58] Jesse Eisenberg: It was all the anticipation of the day. You too?

[10:00] Michelle Simone Miller: Yeah. Yeah, me too.

[10:01] Jesse Eisenberg: Yeah. It's an awful feeling. I, I always just said, I wish we could do morning shows. I would love to do a morning show because the thing is I also couldn't eat until the show was over. So after the show was over, I would just eat so much food and then I had bad sleep every night. It just was a bad cycle. But after, but, um, yeah, when I finally got on stage, it was okay. Yeah. Because then I was in control of it. Yeah. Everything else.

[10:19] Michelle Simone Miller: And then you're telling a story.

[10:20] Jesse Eisenberg: Yeah, exactly. And then you're in it and you can be emotional. And my anxiety sometimes on stage would just be good for the role. Right. Exactly. You use it. Yeah, exactly.

[10:27] Michelle Simone Miller: Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

[10:28] Jesse Eisenberg: Yeah. Thank you so much.

[10:29] Michelle Simone Miller: Have a good night.

[10:30] Jesse Eisenberg: You too.

[10:31] Michelle Simone Miller: Thank you so much for listening to Mentors on the Mic. If you enjoyed the episode, please share it with a friend in entertainment you know would love it. Let me know what you learned or what stayed with you on our Instagram at Mentors on the Mic. I love reading your messages. You can also find me at Michelle Simone Miller on Instagram. On both accounts, I'll be sharing even more information about our mentors. Talk to someone about what you learned today who would really appreciate it and send them the episode. Also, if you love the show, please go ahead and leave us a rating and review on iTunes. It really makes a huge difference in growing this. It makes it easier for people to find our podcast and I love reading your reviews. So thank you so much and I'll see you next week.