Off Camera with Sam Jones

- Season 1

(2014)

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Being a bona fide badass is the price of entry for a career in rock and roll; and if you ask Dave Grohl, it's the key ingredient for just about anything worth doing. His approach to life has fueled the Foo Fighters' 20 year,11 album career and garnered him a following of very stoked rock fans, many of who gathered at this year's SXSW music conference to hear Grohl's keynote address. The hipsters, rockers, start-uppers and next-big-thing developers packing the room were no doubt curious to hear how one goes about dropping out of high school, rising to fame as the ...

As Jim Halpert, John Krasinski embodies The Office's most beloved Everyguy, but his middle-achiever alter ego belies the actor's impressive and accomplished resume. At just 33, he has written, directed and produced both television and feature films with some of the industry's most talented heavy-hitters. Krasinski shares his own version of the waiter-to A-list story and talks about staying true to his artistic path despite periods of self-doubt. An avid and humble student of experience, he discusses what he's learned from his work with industry veterans such as Sam ...

Any 7 year-old who inhales 19 ice cream cones in a row for her first movie appearance, arranges a clandestine meeting with an agent at 11 and inflates her age by an improbable 8 years to audition for the role of a 19 year old really wants to be an actress. Maybe Laura Dern never really had a choice anyway. The daughter of acclaimed actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd was assured of her destiny by Martin Scorsese, who saw her future in the fact that she didn't throw up the aforementioned ice cream cones. He was right. Dern gives us complicated personalities whose often ...

Drug dealer, football player, alcoholic, shooting victim. In his first decade of acting, Michael B. Jordan has found ways to humanize characters that, on the page, may seem stereotypically what he dubs "the black guy." In The Wire, a young and very sheltered Jordan asked fellow actors to help him understand how to simulate a cocaine high onscreen, and through that surreal experience discovered his unfettered love of acting. In Friday Night Lights, Jordan started journaling as an acting exercise, and amassed a detailed back story for quarterback Vince Howard that made ...

Anyone reading Wikipedia's entry on Will Forte couldn't be blamed for suspecting it's the prank of a fellow jokester. High school class president and football player? College history major? Promising financial broker? Seriously? Entries for his more recent past (That '70s Show writer, The Groundlings, Saturday Night Live) seem more like the real Will Forte - until you watch his subtly astounding turn in Nebraska. Director Alexander Payne considered over 100 actors for role of David, all of who wanted it - badly. It's understandable, given the Oscar buzz and critical ...

If pro skateboarders have resumes, Tony Hawk's is undoubtedly among the longest and most envied. Though he's the most decorated skater ever with the highest contest win percentage of any sport and a $1 billion video game series, Hawk has arguably given more to the sport than he's received. Watching Hawk skate is testament to creativity and artistry as much as athleticism, as is his autobiography, which required a glossary to catalog the tricks that are his legacy to the skateboarding lexicon. His Tony Hawk Foundation has contributed over $4 million to develop 500 ...

What kid tells himself, "I know being a high school loner who reads comic books all the time will pay off for me"? One who winds up being a loner who reads comic books all the time. Or, one who winds up creating iconic comedies like Knocked Up, Superbad, and most recently, This Is 40. Enamored with comedy and comedians as a grade schooler, Judd Apatow set about interviewing his idols for WKWZ. The first thing he learned is that they're kind - no one kicked him out when they realized WKWZ was a high school radio station. While his comedies and the actors in them are ...

Aimee Mann, the Boston born singer/songwriter, Grammy winner and self-described Oscar loser, was recently named to NPR's list of the ten finest living songwriters. It was a well-deserved honor, and put her in the company of artists like Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, and Tom Waits. While Aimee Mann is widely acknowledged for her songwriting talent, her lesser-known role as an industry trailblazer is as laudable as it is fascinating. Starting with the sudden and disconcerting fame of her band 'Til Tuesday and spanning eight solo albums, the arc of her career has largely ...

Whether or not you've heard of Val McCallum, you've undoubtedly heard his work. Val is a supremely talented guitarist, singer, songwriter and studio musician who got his start recording for the legendary songwriter Harry Nilsson at age 18. After 30 years of working with such artists as Jackson Browne, Lucinda Williams, The Wallflowers, Bonnie Raitt, and countless others, Val McCallum has released his first solo record. Entitled At the End of the Day, it is a collection of spare, acoustic and grippingly intimate songs. We grabbed Val between stops on his current tour ...

Martin Short grew up in a family full of funny people. He staged make-believe talk shows in his attic and absorbed a steady TV diet of comedy masters like Carson, Rickles and Paar, and yet inexplicably dreamed of becoming a doctor. Or a dentist. Always serious about success, Short gave himself a one-year contract to make it in comedy before returning to school for a master's degree in a respectable medical field. Though we all know how things worked out, it's rare to find a budding comic with a backup plan. But Short is a rare comedian - one you'd both want to go out ...

Sarah Silverman talks to Off Camera about her breakout special Jesus is Magic, the decision to film the more recent We Are Miracles in front of a vast audience of 39, and living the low-overhead dream.

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