On his Podcast @backtoOne, Peter has interviewed many of the most talented actors working today. Paul Mescal, Diane Kruger, Tom Pelphrey, Vincent D’Onofrio, Michael Shannon, Daisy Ridley, Simon Rex, Julianne Nicholson, Jon Bernthal, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Carrie Coon, Christopher Abbott, Aubrey Plaza, Clive Owen, Zoë Deutch, Brit Marling, Jon Hamm, Vicky Krieps, Isabelle Huppert, Juliette Binoche and so many others. We got into what he’s learned from interviewing 300+ actors at completely different stages of their careers, and how those conversations slowly dismantled his belief that there’s a single “right way” to act. We talked about why he started the podcast in the first place: he was genuinely afraid of actors—afraid of over-directing, under-directing, saying the wrong thing, or not understanding the language of the work. We talked about the difference between younger / less experienced actors and more seasoned ones—especially how experienced actors tend to let go of tools they once clung to, not because the tools didn’t matter, but because they’re now embodied. Presence vs control. We spent time on the paradox of craft: you do need technique and preparation—but eventually the work deepens when you’re brave enough to release it and actually live in the moment. We talked about how directing finally kicked his ass in a real way when he had to work with trained actors, and how talking to actors is not the same thing as directing them. And lessons learned from directing his first play last summer. We talked about how Peter became such a fixture in the Brooklyn theater scene—after years of creative isolation—by finding communities of younger artists who actually take the work seriously, want to improve, and respect the craft rather than perform irony. We talked about industry contraction, AI, commercials, and the anxiety around what’s disappearing—and why the answer isn’t doom, but raising the level of the work so it’s harder to replace. And we ended on something that felt important: how actors grow not just by working, but by living—risking, failing, getting heartbroken, putting themselves out there. Acting, as Peter put it, is a great place to fail and come back stronger.
