XaiJu
The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast
The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast

patreon


The B.E.E. Podcast - 6/21/19 - Shannyn Sossamon - SILVER

Actress Shannyn Sossamon and Bret Easton Ellis discuss filming The Rules of Attraction, the freedom afforded by dark material, the addictive glory of Hollywood success and toxic femininity. 

The B.E.E. Podcast - 6/21/19 - Shannyn Sossamon - SILVER

Comments

Just listened and thought Shannon was great. However, guess what she named her first born son: Audio Science Clayton. What the actual f***?

Dan Zilic

Ywn date a cute shy Shannyn with a pet snake. Why even live, fam. Also to find out that she is honest that she doesn't know about politics and is a Williamson supporter makes so much sense for her personality and it is so refreshing. She's like the shining light of hope in the Hollywood myth of all actresses becoming these empty vessels or being burnt out. I genuinely wish her well in all her future endeavors

James_Sobotka

"they always have some weird wall up." Noticed that too. It is so strange. I guess because they are always auditioning. You have to be neutral like a politician. Glad someone else notices

James_Sobotka

Always liked her in those three films, Knight/40/Rules. Good to hear she's doing well and that there's life in the industry at a human level beyond the top or the bottom.

Julio Corea

The discussion between Bret & Shannyn about The Eagles reminded me so much of Pat Bateman and a girl he's about to kill. So serious it's funny. "I think they made two very good records in the mid seventies, that's their high water mark for me". Where's the axe ?

Léo S.

It's strange ! As I said on the Cyber Receipt for Jerry Stahl episode, I remember quite vividly Bret on the audio commentary for Rules of Attraction being VERY laudatory of Shannyn. But on this podcast Bret said his commentary was cut off the DVD, and indeed there's no sign of it on my french DVD edition (be reassured Bret !). So where did I hear Bret talk about Shannyn this way ? It was at least 10 years ago. (Here's what I found on wikipedia LOL The DVD includes trailers and an audio commentary by Carrot Top, despite having nothing to do with the making of the film. He often comments on the attractiveness of each actress, begs Eric Stoltz for work every time he is on screen, and even occasionally sings along with the songs in the film, all the while making a number of self-deprecating jokes. The DVD also features other commentaries.)

Léo S.

I usually skip the actor podcasts because they always have some weird wall up, but this one was refreshing. Rules of Attraction is probably the BEE book I go back to most. I hadn't watched the movie because I loved the book so much and let's face it, Dawson as Sean Bateman? I'm sorry, no! While listening to this podcast I decided to give it another shot and watch it on Hulu and was surprised at how much I liked it. Ian was perfect as Paul, Shannon was pretty good as Lauren, still on the fence about Dawson. I always imagined Sean as some aloof Matt Dillion type and James Ven Der Beek was a completely different version of Sean than what spoke to me through the pages. Also, Shannon and I are around the same age. I was surprised when she said she didn't experience analog much? Huh? I was 20 when Napster came out in '99. Our whole youth was analog, despite some very slow internet searching in the mid to late 90s. I was buying records and cassettes in the 80s (I had Fisher Price record player in '85 when I was 6, lol), cassettes and cds in the 90s, and was going to movies and book stores all through that time. I think Brett, as much as I love him and I do, has to give some analog credit to those younger than him, especially those of us born in the late 70s as we were literally the last round of kids and teens to have an analog youth.

Phoenix

i found this actor way more interesting than that bland logan marshall green. maybe shannyn’s introversion made her more interesting.

Javier G. Madrigal Jr.

A little fed up of hearing Bret “destroying” the democratic candidates. We all know that Bret has crossed the frontier and will never like anyone from the Democratic Party but to affirm that all candidates are a joke is pretty eye-rolling at this point. Enough with the “lite” and clueless politics, Bret.

Jose

That doesn't make someone less of an actor. Charlie Chaplin wrote, produced, AND acted. Was he not an actor?

BUtterfield8

Which is more Elmore Leonard than Quentin. Masterfully rendered of course, but narratively it’s Saint Elmore

Luke Monroe

She sounds cool as hell

Chuck

It's both rare and exciting when someone besides me says Amadeus is their favorite movie. It's not like End Game where I can just sit down with a stranger and discuss.

Damien Smith

Besides Jackie Brown.

Alethia St. Joan

without comprehending the subtle emotional cues in TRON: Legacy the movie is closed to enjoyment, it seems empty and pointless.

Chris Wright

Roger Avary gets infinite credit from me because he also wrote or co-wrote Beowulf, which is majorly underestimated because of the full CGI and the somewhat corny plot progression. And he's clearly the reason that Pulp Fiction is so much superior to all of Quentin's other work.

Chris Wright

Don't know about you guys but I found her delightfully charming in A Knight's Tale. May have to watch it again soon!

Chris Wright

Thank you David.

Chris Wright

The most memorable performance of Olivia Wilde for me was Tron: Legacy, and I knew Bret was going to skip over it, probably intentionally, but that's where my mind goes when I hear her name.

Arch Friend

Seemed weird not mention Roger Avary's manslaughter conviction when talking about his career. I mean obviously that kinda changed his trajectory. Also, disappointing lack of glitterati talk. I kind of wondered what happened to Shannyn, so it was good to hear from her. The term 'trauma survivors' was used a bit excessively though.

Billy Vega

Take a shot everytime she says safe.

Niomi Consten

Fucking love Shannyn Sossamon. This episode was so fantastic. ❤️

Senseless

Bret Easton Ellis: Projects like The Rules of Attraction could never be made today. Nicolas Winding Refn: Hold my razor blade!

Eddie Enciu

He basically said he found Bret a really interesting thinker and that the book was very interesting and one of the best written books to come out of Hollywood in a long time.

David Willis

If you were to transcribe Ben's comments from the pod that would be cool.

Chris Wright

If she has written for shows that gets her credit as a writer, right?

Chris Wright

Is there a way of getting these to appear in the podcast app again?

Joe Division

Good podcast Bret as always. She made for a good guest. By the way, you got some nice comments from Ben Shapiro on his podcast the other day praising White.

David Willis

I considered that, but I don't think it is fair, or it is pretty dismissive given all the acting that she has done. She also had to write the parts, create the shows, etc. because there weren't existing roles for her. Maybe we don't yet know the range that she may or may not have. Anyway, it seemed like a rude comment to me, without some clarification. If the point was to draw a comparison with Emma Thompson, well, obviously, the British run acting circles all day long around the American film and tv stars.

BUtterfield8

For me, when I think of Olivia Wilde, I think of a couple of properties. The first are a few appearances on Portlandia. The second is a little movie called TRON: Legacy. Now hear me out, I was once like you. I found it dismal, subdued, disappointing, and uninteresting. However something brought me back. I gave it a second viewing, and a third, and fourth. Around this time I was beginning to understand what the movie was all about: Sam's relationship with his father. With this in mind the whole movie opened up to me, became infinitely richer and more meaningful. It had emotional subtext. Now it's one of my all-time favorites. And Olivia Wilde gives the most interesting performance by far. The producers had wanted her to be super sexy and alluring, but Olivia pointed out they already had that character in Gem, the program that outfits Sam with his suit and disc before heading into battle. So Olivia went completely the opposite direction, guileless and naive. And for my money, she comes out looking even more sexy and desirable than ever before, precisely by being natural and unaffected. Throw in the powerful Daft Punk score which everybody agrees is sublime, and you have one hell of a movie. Just hope the sequel does eventually come through -- it was put on hold indefinitely after John Carter tanked the studio's finances.

Chris Wright

When Bret says Mindy is not actress, I know exactly what he means. She's a presence, she doesn't do 'imagination' or 'inhabiting another person's skin'. She's just raw and unfiltered and direct. No mysterious or ineffable quality. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike her, she's fine, but to consider her to have the same job description as a Cate Blanchett or Jodie Foster? I think not.

Chris Wright

Shannyn has such a neat and refreshing perspective on everything. She seems like a genuinely cool person. Also, the film version of RoA is something I always revisit whenever I detect the first traces of fall in the air. To me, it’s one of the quintessential films to evoke autumn. Even in the early ‘00s, it seemed miraculous that the film made it through the system without being sanitized. In this current landscape of entertainment and culture, a truly audacious work like this should be savored all the more.

Jon A.

I live in Redlands. The University hasn’t allowed another film to come here since The Rules of Attraction. Thanks a lot guys! Kidding, it’s one of my favorite movies! Looking forward to this episode!

Eddie Enciu

Did Bret say Mindy Kaling isn't an actress? That's ridiculous at this point. Admittedly I haven't seen Late Night yet, but Bret's complaints seem like the very qualities that are central to Kaling's brand. The Mindy Project was distractingly cute and stylized and PG, but was also quite popular with a certain, niche audience.

BUtterfield8

hopefully the enthusiasm we expressed at the prospect of having Chloe Sevigny on the podcast might convince Bret to have his people call her people 🤞

Chris Wright

Nice!

James Francis


More Creators