Alan Rickman in the Film Center Amphitheater. Photo by Julie Cunnah. 

On this episode of our podcast, The Close-Up, you’ll hear from two prominent actors who have recently taken their talents behind the camera: Rose McGowan and Alan RIckman. Both conversations were part of our free Film Society Talks series, which is sponsored by HBO®. Listen below and, if you like what you hear, subscribe on iTunes to get new episodes delivered straight to you every week and leave a rating or comment to help us reach more cinephiles around the world!

Rose McGowan stopped by to screen and discuss her directorial debut, the short film Dawn, which explores a teenage girl’s coming of age. Following the film, McGowan discussed her passion for storytelling, her approach to directing, and the recent controversy surrounding her public stance against sexism in Hollywood. You can watch Dawn free on YouTube (scroll down). An excerpt from this talk, which was moderated by Violet Lucca of Film Comment, is part one the episode.

In part two, you’ll hear highlights from a fascinating conversation with acclaimed British actor-director Alan Rickman. The talk centered around his second film as director, the period drama A Little Chaos. The film stars Kate Winslet as Sabine, a talented landscape designer who, while building a garden for King Louis XIV (played by Rickman), becomes romantically entangled with the court’s renowned landscape artist (Matthias Schoenarts).


Rose McGowan. Photo by Mettie Ostrowski.