On today’s episode, filmmaker and playwright, John Patrick Shanley on writing memorable characters. Shanley won the Oscar with his screenplay for Moonstruck, as well as a Pulitzer and a Tony for his play, Doubt, which he later adapted for the screen.

Filmmaker and playwright John Patrick Shanley’s credits include the stage plays Prodigal Son, Outside Mullingar (Tony nomination), Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Savage in Limbo, Dirty Story, Defiance, and Beggars in the House of Plenty. His theatrical work is performed extensively across the United States and around the world. His play, Doubt, received both the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize. He later adapted and directed Doubt for the screen. The film, starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis, was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay. Shanley’s other films include Five Corners, Alive, Joe Versus the Volcano, and of course, Moonstruck, for which he received both the Writers Guild of America Award and an Academy Award for best original screenplay.