Clayton Davis: Do you know what it really takes to make movie magic?

Variety Studio is the place to see candid, one-on-one conversations between your favorite actors as they share secrets about this year's buzziest films.

Colman Domingo: I had to go in there a bit more raw.

Clayton: With Ariana Grande and Paul Mescal, Kieran Culkin and Colman Domingo, and Selena Gomez and Saoirse Ronan.

♪♪♪ Clayton: Welcome to Variety Studio, "Actors on Actors."

I'm Clayton Davis.

Angelique Jackson: And I'm Angelique Jackson.

In this episode, we go behind the scenes of some of this year's most buzzed about movies.

Clayton: With the A-listers who surprise us by revealing a new side to their acting skills.

What do you get when you cross a legendary Broadway musical with the long-awaited "Gladiator" sequel?

The movie-going experience known as "Glicked," headlined by stars Ariana Grande and Paul Mescal.

Grammy-winner Ariana Grande first fell in love with "Wicked" when she saw the Broadway show at ten years old.

Now, 20 years later, she stars as Glinda in the big-screen adaptation, where she proves that her comedic chops rival her pitch-perfect singing abilities.

Glinda: Pink goes good with green.

Elphaba: Goes well with green.

Glinda: It so does.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Glinda: Why, Ms. Elphaba, look at you.

You're beautiful.

Clayton: Oscar nominee Paul Mescal armors up for "Gladiator II," playing a soldier driven by vengeance as he duels in the ancient Roman Coliseum, Mescal delivers his toughest performance yet, but also showcases the tenderness that made him famous.

Lucius: I'm not a general, but we are all soldiers.

And up until now, we have fought for nothing more than another day's survival.

male: What will you have us do?

Paul: Well, you can return to your cells if you do not wish to fight this battle, or you can join me and fight for a freedom far beyond these walls.

Paul Mescal: What can't you do?

Ariana Grande: Oh, gosh.

No, I mean, coming from you.

I've seen you sing on YouTube.

Paul: We're starting there?

Ariana: I'm starting--I have to start there because--I'm sorry.

I am a musical theater nerd, and I saw you sing "Les Mis."

I did.

Paul: Yep, with the dodgy, like, mutton chop.

Ariana: It was great!

Paul: Yeah, okay.

Definitely share the, like, musical theater bug.

But where did your, like, love for musical theater begin?

Ariana: I don't know.

I mean, it was just something that spoke to me.

I was a child, and I would sit there watching "The Wizard of Oz" and study Judy Garland, and I just remember it being such an escape.

I loved music, I loved the storytelling, the marriage of the music and the stories, and, yeah.

You started in theater.

Paul: Started--"Phantom of the Opera" was my beginning, and then I realized that I couldn't really dance.

So that avenue was slowly but surely taken away from me, and I just gravitated more towards, like, the "Phantoms," the "Les Mis," the "Miss Saigons," and then realized that I probably didn't have the best voice.

And then acting was the avenue that I went down.

But what was your, like, start point with "Wicked"?

Ariana: Well, I have been acting a little, you know, since I was younger, and I did musical theater, and I had a lot of experience on stage.

But I really sort of just trained really hard with my acting coach for a long time just as soon as I heard that they were looking to cast, even just--this is even, like, a year out before my--I even knew when the date of the audition was.

We just started doing random stuff, random monologues, random scenes, random plays, and playing around just because I wanted to be able to have the tools that I needed to be truthful.

And I worked really hard with a vocal coach to get ready because Glinda's vocal is very different than what I usually sing, so--.

Angelique: What's the differences?

Ariana: Well, it's very operatic and very classical, sort of coloratura, which is different from doing just, like, falsetto and whistle tones.

It's just a totally different placement in the voice.

So I wanted to train to sound authentic in singing opera, and I don't know, it just went from there.

But how did "Gladiator" come into your--obviously, they just called you and begged you to do it.

Paul: I wish that was the case.

Ariana: Was that the process?

Paul: It was, like--it was different in the sense that, like, I met Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher.

Doug was the producer on the first "Gladiator."

At that point, I was just--I felt, like, deeply privileged that I had this kind of private information.

I got a message from my agent being like, "Ridley Scott wants to Zoom."

And then we spoke for half an hour.

Like, it was great.

We spoke for ten minutes about the film, ten minutes about his dog, and then ten minutes about the sport that I played growing up.

And then, like, in your head, you're like, "Of course there's gonna be camera tests, auditions," but there just wasn't any of those things, and you get the call, and so it's, like, a weird position to be in when you're, like, a fan, but also having to shoulder some big ole responsibility about what the next iteration of it is.

Ariana: That pressure is a very specific thing.

Paul: But I feel like the pressure is related to actually both films, 'cause you've got the prestige of the musical on stage and you've got the prestige of "Gladiator" one.

Did you feel that when you were shooting it, or do you just kind of go into work headspace and go and make it?

Ariana: No, I mean, Cynthia is just an absolute brilliant gift of a human being, and I just--I think we try to keep the pressure out of the room, obviously as much as possible, so we could just stay present in the material and in each other and hearing each other and listening to each other.

Just sharing this experience with her and working with her on this has been truly the honor of a lifetime.

I mean, she's just a once-in-a-lifetime talent.

But what about you?

I mean, you must have felt that pressure as well because having--what was your--how old were you when you first saw "Gladiator?"

Paul: Well, the film came out when I was four, so my parents didn't let me see it when I was four.

And then I watched it with my dad when I was, like, 13--in and around that age--and just loved it.

But it's that thing of, like, you're wrestling between--or I actually wasn't wrestling with the idea of what I wanted to do, but I was wrestling with the idea of what--how it will be perceived.

I think that's my big thing as an actor that I want to have a more complicated answer, but that's the thing that I constantly struggle with, which is I know how I want to go about it, but I also struggle with how my work is perceived, because it's like the thing that I want to be proudest of is the thing that I want people to hopefully see as good or moving or whatever it is.

But I think the thing that makes me really proud of it all is that, like, for both, I imagine "Wicked" and "Gladiator II" is it's like--it's championing the thing that we both adore, which is cinema.

Ariana: I love that.

Angelique: Whether they're in prestige TV dramas or heart-wrenching indie films, Kieran Culkin and Colman Domingo always deliver mesmerizing performances, and their latest roles are no exception.

Emmy winner Kieran Culkin swaps a privileged persona in TV succession for a movie star making turn in "A Real Pain."

Culkin is captivating as the loose cannon of two Jewish cousins who travel to Poland, making audiences laugh through their tears.

Benji Kaplan: What?

David Kaplan: Oh, nothing.

It's just, like, a dumb joke.

Benji: Mmm, oh, that's cool, man.

Look at her.

David: Who?

Benji: That woman, Marcia.

She's walking alone.

We should go talk to her.

David: We just met her.

Benji: Yeah, but she's got this, like, deep sadness behind her eyes, you know?

David: She does?

Kieran: Yeah, you didn't notice that?

David: During the introductions?

No.

Benji: I think we should check on her.

David: Benji, maybe she wants to be alone.

Benji: No one wants to be alone, Dave.

Okay, I'm gonna check it out.

Angelique: In "Sing Sing," Oscar nominee Colman Domingo plays a wrongfully-convicted man who finds purpose in the prison's theater group.

Domingo delivers a stirring performance in this unforgettable tale of resilience and humanity.

Divine G: People get more in touch with their feelings and able to process and actually move through and truly get some rehabilitation.

female: So are you acting at all during this interview?

Divine G: Absolutely not.

I truly hope that you can understand that I've been very sincere.

I know how meaningful this is.

I would never--actually, that's not the intention of acting.

Acting is just a, you know, process.

female: I read about the program.

Kieran Culkin: What is your--you're an actor, right?

Dominic something?

Dominic Goldman!

Colman Domingo: Dominic Goldman, exactly right.

Kieran: I really need to do my research here.

I went in on it blind.

You did some research, didn't you?

Colman: I told you I did a deep dive on you.

Kieran: Did you really?

Colman: Yeah, I did.

Colman: First of all, I wanted to open this--everyone, I wanted to open this by saying-- which is maybe odd because I'm older than you--but I grew up on your movies.

Kieran: Well, how long have you been acting?

Colman: I've been acting for 34 years.

Kieran: Okay, you're barely beat, though--36.

Thirty-six years, so that's-- Colman: You started out-- Kieran: I was six years old, so.

Colman: Wow, 'cause now I wanna really talk about your work.

Your work is beautiful in "A Real Pain."

And also, I'm not sure if I like him or not, but then there's something about him that's so honest.

But I also thought that that's something that you, the actor, understood about him.

I don't think--I don't know if on the page he's that dude.

He's contradictory and all--you thought he was?

Kieran: To me, like--so Jesse Eisenberg sent it to me and then told me after--which is weird, again, because he didn't audition me or anything, and we never talked about the character or anything.

I showed up, like, I think the day before we were gonna shoot and just started doing it.

But he had told me that he had written it differently, but that's how I saw it.

I mean, the guy is so-- Colman: He's full of contradictions.

Kieran: Yes, totally.

And he's completely surprising and just a spontaneous person.

You don't really know what's gonna come out of him.

So I made a point to not prepare at all.

I read it a year before.

I said yes.

And then I read it a couple of weeks before flying to Poland to shoot it.

Colman: You didn't think about it at all?

Kieran: No, it was the only time I read something where I was like, "I have no questions, I have no notes."

I--like, "It's there, let's just do it."

I mean, I'm sure you're used to that too.

But when you have, like--by the way, "Sing Sing," one of the best ensembles ever.

I was trying to think today, I was like, "That's the best I've seen in years, decades, possibly ever."

Absolutely fantastic cast.

And you shot the film in 18 days.

And most of these people had never been on camera.

That is such a feat, 18 days to shoot an entire movie like that, a scope like that, with these actors, and they're so good.

Colman: I think it's the energy that Greg Creed, our director-- when I tell you he's so gentle and he invited everyone to just bring what they had and didn't judge whatever it was and the level of it.

And I guess, you know, these guys were asked to just, "Hey, bring yourselves and bring parts of yourself and stories that you wanna tell."

And I think that it was a very gentle set, which is wild.

It's, like, to shoot at that pace, but it also felt like we had all the time in the world, which is pretty wild.

It's like-- Kieran: Did you feel a sense, when you were on the set of "Sing Sing," that sort of like, okay, if these other actors aren't as experienced on a set that they were sort of like a setting of the tone of what it's like--yeah?

You did feel that?

Colman: Well, I did feel like that I knew that I had to let them know what was possible, let them know that they weren't gonna be judged when it comes to whatever level that they were coming in at, and that if they needed something from me, I was here, and they can just-- Kieran: And also, like, speak up, like, if you wanted to take--like, "It's okay, you can say that.

You can advocate for yourself."

Colman: And like,"How was that for you?"

exactly.

You know, it was just, like, you know--well, I would give--I would dial in just a few notes and, like, you know, 'cause they were used to doing theater.

And I was like, "You know what, if you just did that.

It's just you and I, just make it more intimate."

And they were, "Oh, okay."

And they would go and do it, and suddenly [snaps], all this magic.

Like, my cast mates, I love them so much because they were--I just felt like we could do anything together.

But also, I had to go in there a bit more raw in a way that I was uncomfortable with.

It was the first time I actually did what you were saying you did.

I was like, "Oh," 'cause I like to know everything, I like to-- Kieran: You like to prepare.

Colman: I like to prepare a lot so I can be free.

And this was, like, the first time I was like, "Oh, no, I just have to be my most raw self and not know exactly what's happening."

Kieran: 'Cause you quite literally didn't have the time?

Colman: Yeah, I didn't have the time, but also, it made sense for this film, you know what I mean?

Kieran: Did it give you a little bit of insight that like, "Oh, maybe I don't need to do all this work I've been doing?"

Like, "I'm sitting in my hotel, killing myself over a scene."

Colman: I guess, but I--but maybe that's the part that I love.

I've always loved--you know, I come from the theater, and I love rehearsal, and I love the practice of it.

I love to know a lot so I can free myself on the set.

Kieran: Right, but don't you find that when your back's against the wall, you can still do the same amount of work when there's, like-- Colman: It's always surprising that I can.

Like, I was thought, "Oh, I don't have a great memory.

Oh, I need time," 'cause I really want to get it under the hood and all that stuff, but then, like-- Kieran: But when you have to, and it's your job-- Colman: Oh, when I have to, suddenly I'm like, "Oh, no, here's the new monologue today."

I'm like, "Oh, I can learn it."

But I was thinking, "No, I need, like, a, you know, week."

But I think I stressfully get it.

But I think--I don't know, but there's some magic in that.

But that's a place where you live naturally.

Kieran: Me?

But only recently.

Like, in "A Real Pain," it lent itself to the character because he's so spontaneous.

I'm like, "I can literally show up and not really know what the scene is and not know what I'm gonna do because that's what the character is."

But another character, that might not really work well.

Is there any note that a director has ever given you that you're like, "I can take this with me for all things?"

Colman: Oh, yes.

Kieran: Yeah?

Colman: George C. Wolfe.

This was about three years ago.

Kieran: Okay, oh, wow, recent, somewhat recent.

Colman: This, like, reinvented my--you know, rearranged my brain again.

Kieran: Isn't that great, you've been doing this for 30 years and then suddenly, like, your whole process can change?

Colman: He said to me, because he would always have a private rehearsal for you, and, like, really private.

Just actors and director.

And he just had me in there, and he says, "Hey, so Colman, so you've been directing a lot, huh?"

I was like, "Yeah," like all proud.

Like, "Yeah, I have.

Have you noticed my work?"

Kieran: "Yeah, do you need some notes?"

Colman: Exactly; he said, "Yeah, I can tell because you know exactly the way the scene should be.

You have an idea of the arc of the scene."

I was like, "Yeah, that's good, right?

I do know the--where we're going--where we're starting, and where we probably need to get to."

And he said, "Yeah, but I'm missing the discovery in the moment and the--I wanna watch behind your eyes you taking in that information and its shifting you."

He said, "Because you cannot recycle vulnerability."

Kieran: Wow.

That's good.

Colman: And when it comes to performance--so he was--he took me back to a place where I started, the place that I knew.

I started as the most raw actor, and he was taking me back to that 21-year-old Colman who was a bit more wild-eyed and feeling.

I don't know if I would be able to have done "Sing Sing."

The way I attacked it was, I think, because of George C. Wolfe.

I sort of, like, freed myself again.

Kieran: I sort of object to when actors call themselves, like, storytellers.

I don't think that I'm telling the story when I'm doing the scene with someone.

Somebody else is telling the stories 'cause I'm not framing the shot, I'm not filming it.

I'm also not telling the story.

I'm the--part of it.

Colman: Well, we're all telling the story.

We're all--I mean, it's, well, part of it.

Kieran: Yes, we're all part of it.

It's, like, so, like--I'll bring it back to "Real Pain" for a second.

Like, Jesse Eisenberg was really good at making sure everyone was involved, that we were all making this movie, but it was his movie.

He wrote it, he's telling the story, but we're all making it.

Colman: We're all in service to the story.

Kieran: Yes, so sort of to what that note was that you got was, like, if you're aware of the story you're trying to tell and you're trying to tell the story in the scene, that's not really your job, it's almost like-- Colman: No, we have to be in service to the story.

We're servants of the story.

Like you said, we're not storytellers.

We're servants of the story.

Kieran: There we go.

Clayton: Sometimes, when words fail, music speaks.

Selena Gomez and Saoirse Ronan bring powerful voices to stories that echo much of today's social climate in unforgettable films.

Selena Gomez swaps her dry-witted Mabel from "Only Murders in the Building" for the fiery Jessi in "Emilia Pérez."

In the Spanish language musical, she plays a young widow and delivers a raw performance that embodies love, loss, and what it means to truly let go.

[speaking in Spanish] Jessi Del Monte: Why can't we go to my sister's in the States?

[speaking in Spanish] Clayton: Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan showcases her range in "The Outrun," as she betrays a young woman struggling with alcoholism and past regrets in rural Ireland.

And in "Blitz," she showcases her range as a mother in World War II London desperately searching for her son amid the chaos.

Rita: Darling, darling, why aren't you looking at me?

Darling, please!

I love you!

[train whistling] Rita: Darling, please!

Please, look at me!

Look at me!

Saoirse Ronan: Selena, you've come very, very prepared, and so I would like to know, just because this is an interesting observation, are you quite studious when it comes to your prep for work, whether it's, like, music or acting?

Selena: Yeah.

Actually, yes.

And she's referring to the long list of questions that I have for her.

Yes, I do, when it's something I really love and care about, I tend to want to just immerse myself in it completely, and specifically for "Emilia Pérez," that was an entire different language for me.

I should be fluent, and I was when I was younger, but I started working in, you know, mainly English-speaking films.

Saoirse: And did you do a lot of prep with a language coach?

Selena: Yeah, it was really interesting because Zoe Saldaña is from Dominican Republic and Karla Sofía Gascón is from Spain.

So we all actually had to have our own coach because we're from different parts of the Latin community.

So singing in Spanish, too, was really beautiful because the words are so powerful, and in Spanish, everything sounds romantic.

It's very dreamy sometimes, and it can be fierce, and I really loved that.

Saoirse: And was that sort of your way in, do you feel like, was through the music?

Selena: No, I think if anything it would have hurt me had Jacques Audiard, the director, knew a lot about me.

Sometimes I have to face those kind of issues when I approach a role.

I don't want people to know it's me, but I try to do my best.

So when I did, you know, read with him, and I, you know, just went for it, he was very, very kind and communicative, but he didn't know anything about me, which worked out.

Saoirse: It's so nice, though, I'm sure.

Selena: It was very nice.

All right, could I start?

I am so eager.

Okay, first of all-- Saoirse: I'm scared to know what you're gonna ask.

Selena: No, it's all very good, I promise.

Okay, so I saw the "Blitz" and "The Outrun."

Can I tell you one that I found to be the one I connected with most?

It would have to be "The Outrun."

And I guess I wanted to ask you, how do you approach, you know, the essence of these characters?

Saoirse: I've always found that it's so important to just embody who the person is, and I've always wanted to play them as if you could meet them now and relate to them.

So it's--I think it's important to kinda humanize them no matter what.

With something like "The Outrun," that's obviously the one that I'm--I'm incredibly proud of both of them, but "The Outrun" was something that I produced, and it was something that I sort of built from the ground up with my partner and with people who became very close friends.

And, you know, it was such a sort of, like, enriching experience.

The reason why I wanted to do it is because, you know, like everyone, I've been affected by addiction, and I've watched loved ones suffer from alcoholism in particular.

It was kind of like this monster in the corner of the room that, like, I hadn't dealt with.

I just wanted to be angry at it and not actually really explore what this feeling was or why they had ended up the way that they did.

And then I was finally ready to sort of crack that open.

So there was a lot of raw emotion with "The Outrun," and it was just sort of about finding the best way to use that.

Selena: It just showed the journey really well.

It just felt very true, and the way it portrayed it was very honest, and it made me very emotional.

How was working with Steve McQueen on the "Blitz"?

Saoirse: It was amazing.

You know, I'm such a huge fan of Steve's, and he's always had a very interesting perspective on the world, and he's used his work and his filmmaking to say something, but in a very sort of beautiful, poetic way.

It never kind of feels didactic or like you're being taught a lesson.

You're kind of being welcomed into this way of thinking, which I really respect.

Selena: It was your first time playing a mother or no?

Saoirse: Well, Elliot reminded me it wasn't my first time.

He was like, "Remember, you played the mother to King James I and VI in "Mary Queen of Scots," Saoirse.

But that's what I find so special about kids as well.

And I think that's why I was so protective over Elliott, who was in "Blitz" with me, who is the lead in the film.

Selena: This was his first film.

Saoirse: This was his first film.

He was nine years old when he made it.

And there's just this sort of blind faith that kids have.

They're just able to sort of go, "Okay, cool.

I'm doing it."

I guess I wanted to hold on to the awareness that Rita, my character in "Blitz," is still very young.

And so hers is this teenage pregnancy, and she's essentially sort of growing up with this little boy.

So as much as I wanted there to be this sort of maternal element to her character, I still wanted it to feel like they were companions and friends.

Selena: That's really special.

And I got to play a mom in "Emilia Pérez" and-- Saoirse: Of course you did.

How was that?

Selena: It was very sweet.

However, I was intimidated.

They were so fantastic.

And there is something about children that are fearless, and I miss it a little.

I do miss that.

Saoirse: Whenever I'm with kids, it reminds me of how much I love what I do, but it's also this sort of, like--there's this melancholy that starts to sink in because you're like, "Oh, I'm never gonna have that again," you know?

Selena: I felt that many times.

Saoirse: Did you feel that?

Selena: Yeah, of course I did.

When you shoot, 'cause a lot of your character choices are so well done, but you have this emotional depth to you, and it captivates people.

Do you have to recover from any sort of rawness that you show, or is it just quite natural, and then you can come out of it?

Saoirse: I can come out of it, and I'm interested to know what you think as well.

Like, the reason why I love to act and I love to perform is that any of these, you know, wounds that you've got or emotions that you've got ready to go, you channel them into the performance, and if they're all sort of coming out of you unfiltered for a two-minute take and you feel like you've really allowed the floodgates to open, then actually, by the end of the day, you kind of feel--I mean, you're knackered, but you're sort of cleansed from it almost, you know what I mean, like-- Selena: I can appreciate that because I feel the same way.

I love what I do, it does mean a lot when it has affected people for the better.

Saoirse: Yes.

Clayton: We hope you've enjoyed this episode of Variety Studio, "Actors on Actors."

Angelique: Please join us again next time.

Paul: Hello.

How's it going?

Ariana: It's good, how 'bout you?

Paul: I'm great.

I'm great.

Ariana: We share a release date.

Paul: We do indeed.

Ariana: And the fans are calling it "Glicked."

Kieran: The moderators are losing their mind, she's like-- Colman: They're like, "We're not talking about films.

We're not talking about anything."

Kieran: This is it, we're gonna do this for 45 minutes.

Selena: Thank you for being so nice and making me comfortable.

But it was a pleasure to talk to you, and I hope we'll get to see each other-- Saoirse: I hope so, too.

This was honestly so, so lovely.