logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2018
34m 9s

Hugh Jackman & Benj Pasek & Justin Paul

Josh Horowitz
About this episode
It's a movie musical trifecta on this edition of "Happy Sad Confused"! Hugh Jackman returns to the show and this time he's brought some very talented friends, the Oscar/Grammy/Tony winning team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. All three are basking in the glow of their hugely successful original movie musical, "The Greatest Showman".  Despite a soft initial opening and divided critics, the audiences have spoken and they love this film to the tune of nearly $400 million worldwide. In this conversation the trio talk to Josh about the film's unlikely trajectory, what they'd like to do with the material next, and why a superhero musical may not be such a bad idea! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Up next
Oct 6
Rose Bryne
Rose Byrne is a secret weapon no longer. She's proven herself in television (DAMAGES), in genre films (SUNSHINE), in comedy after comedy (BRIDESMAIDS, SPY), and now she reminds us again what a brilliant dramatic lead she can be in the new film, IF I HAD LEGS I'D KICK YOU. Rose is ... Show More
51m 10s
Oct 2
Sean Bean
Sean Bean is finally ready to talk. In a VERY rare extended career conversation, he talks everything from LORD OF THE RINGS and GAME OF THRONES to that time Harrison Ford permanently scarred him on the set of his first big Hollywood production. Sean is currently starring opposite ... Show More
52m 34s
Sep 25
Harris Dickinson
Harris Dickinson may be best known for his on camera work in BABYGIRL and TRIANGLE OF SADNESS but he's quickly proving himself behind the camera thanks to his acclaimed feature directing debut, URCHIN. Here he catches up with Josh in this chat recorded at the Telluride Film Festi ... Show More
58m 47s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2021
Brad Bird & Michael Giacchino Part 1
In the first part of a 2-part episode, Oscar-winning writer-director Brad Bird and Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino join Gilbert and Frank for an informative and wildly entertaining conversation about their numerous collaborations ("The Incredibles," "Incredibles 2," "Rat ... Show More
1h 10m
Mar 2023
Good Will Hunting
Jordan and Alex celebrate their 100th episode (and their friendship) by honoring the most famous best buds in entertainment — Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.  They'll talk about their initial bond as kids in Boston, the complex personal histories that went into the movie's script, an ... Show More
1h 52m
Oct 2021
WERE THE XMEN MOVIES ACTUALLY GOOD? PART 2
One of the marks of the ’00s was the advent of Comic Book Films and the rise of the superhero genre in a big way. While Wesley Snipes “Blade” pioneered and opened the door. The X-Men Movies made an imprint in Pop Culture and Cinema History. These movies catapulted people like Hug ... Show More
45m 27s
Jun 2023
#570 — Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright, Bryan Cranston
Wes Anderson's new film, Asteroid City, has so many incredible actors in it that we were able to send John Nugent to the Cannes Film Festival recently, steal three of them away for interview purposes, and put them back before anyone even noticed. So, in this week's episode of the ... Show More
1h 37m
Jan 2024
Maestro with Josh Singer
The acclaimed new Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro is about more than just the life and times of arguably America’s most famous composer. It’s about the idea of genius and what allowances those in the presence of gifted creatives sometimes permit, at great personal cost, to allow ... Show More
1h 19m
Nov 2021
#491 — Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeremy Renner & Hailee Steinfeld
It's a very musical episode on the Empire Podcast this week. First up, Ben Travis geeks out over Disney musicals with the great Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the songs for the new animated musical Encanto, which debuts next Wednesday (November 24). Then Chris Hewitt sits down wit ... Show More
1h 48m
Aug 2020
Moonlight with Barry Jenkins
Adapted from an unpublished play by Tarell Alvin McCraney, Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight was a mesmerising three-part journey through the young adult life of Chiron, a boy grappling with his identity and sexuality, played by three different actors representing different stages of his ... Show More
1h 7m
Sep 2022
Pam Grier, Moonage Daydream, Ticket to Paradise, Pinocchio, and Jackie Brown
This week Simon speaks to the iconic American actress Pam Grier about the 25th anniversary of ‘Jackie Brown’. Mark reviews Disney+ live action ‘Pinocchio’, Brett Morgan’s new documentary about David Bowie - ‘Moonage Daydream’, Quentin Tarantino’s seminal film ‘Jackie Brown’ and r ... Show More
1h 20m
May 2022
Jerry Maguire
With 'Top Gun' Fever in the air, Jordan and Alex take a look at a different kind of Tom Cruise classic. They talk about how Cuba Gooding Jr got naked during his audition, the true origin of the phrase "Show me the money," and why Cameron Crowe went through way more humiliation th ... Show More
57m 9s
Jun 2021
S11: Episode 553 - Jonah Hex
On this week's show, the Summer Blockbuster Extravaganza talks to the dead as the guys chat about the completely abysmal comic adaptation, Jonah Hex! How many Maseratis was Malkovich financing when he signed on for this one? How hard were they going for a Wild Wild West-meets-Hel ... Show More
1h 46m