This week's episode of the Empire Podcast sees Christmas on our mind as we enter December, and accordingly we deliver a sackful of great guests to you, our loyal and loving listeners. First off, Chris Hewitt goes to Taron Egerton's actual flat (smells divine... and the flat wasn't bad either) to sit down with him for a candid chat about his career, his new film She Rides Shotgun, and whether or not he knows his lines. [21:05 - 38:44 approx] Then, Chris sits down with two of his absolute faves, George Clooney and Adam Sandler, for a riotous conversation about their new movie, Jay Kelly, basketball, and accents. [1:03:17 - 1:22:31 approx] And finally Chris talks to Wicked: For Good director, Jon M. Chu, in an excerpt from our upcoming spoiler special for that movie. [1:43:57 - 1:55:17 approx]

Either side of those, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara and James Dyer to review Jay Kelly, She Rides Shotgun, It Was Just An Accident, and Eternity; discuss the week's movie news (a ton of which broke after we had finished recording, as ever); and answer the first Christmas-related questions of the year, which leads to an unexpected Die Hard/Love Actually mash-up, and the team trying to figure out how to take down an Infinity Gauntlet-wielding Santa Claus. Oh, and our intrepid trio also dig into Quentin Tarantino's recently revealed list of his 20 favourite films of the 21st Century, and his accompanying comments about Paul Dano. Enjoy!

The new episode of The Shameless Plug is here, folks, and this month sees Chris Hewitt sit down with freshly-minted award winner, Empire editor Nick de Semlyen, to delve into one of the most special issues of Empire magazine in many a moon: our world exclusive first look at Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, for which Nick went on something of an odyssey of his own, as he explains here. They also talk about what's in the rest of the January 2026 issue (on sale now in all good, evil, and virtual newsagents), including the 2026 Preview, James Cameron tackling reader questions, and the wild origins of Chris' hilarious interview with Anaconda stars, Jack Black and Paul Rudd. Oh, and Corin Hardy, director of the upcoming horror film Whistle, drops in for a chilling cameo. Your ears aren't ready for it. Enjoy.

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast sees Chris Hewitt sit down with two actors who star in animated movies (and ask them both about their favourite things to do in London). First, Simu Liu Zooms in to talk about new Netflix family flick, In Your Dreams, plus his own dreams, and the return of Shang-Chi to the MCU. [21:38 - 38:30 approx] Then, Ke Huy Quan, star of Zootropolis 2, drops by to share his memories of working on Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom, and his theories about snakes. [57:06 - 1:10:54 approx] And, finally, Ben Travis has a lovely natter with Richard Linklater and Ethan Hawke, who have teamed up once again on Blue Moon. [1:36:55 - 1:49:54 approx] Either side of that little lot, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Alex Godfrey to chat about what passes for movie news in a week featuring the Thanksgiving break; review Zootropolis 2, Wake Up Dead Man, Pillion, Christy, and Blue Moon; and discuss the best movies set in Scotland. Does that mean Scottish accents abound? Jings! As ever, our apologies to the people of Scotland. Oh, and a famous detective drops by for a cameo. Enjoy!

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast sees the podteam — Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, and James Dyer — play themselves as they discuss great 'as themselves' performances in the movies. They also run their collective eye over the week's movie news, including heartening Star Trek developments, review Train Dreams, Wicked: For Good, Playdate, and Sisu: Road To Revenge, and talk about Black Friday bargains into the bargain. Interview-wise, our cup runneth over as ever, as Chris has interesting chats with The Thing With Feathers star/director, Benedict Cumberbatch and Dylan Southern; [20:57 - 36:22 approx] Train Dreams star/director, Joel Edgerton and Clint Bentley; [59:10 - 1:15:34 approx] and Now You See Me: Now You Don't star/not director, Ariana Greenblatt. [1:39:14 - 1:53:45 approx] And if anyone wants the Empire Podcast made available as a sleep story, please do get in touch. Enjoy!

This week's episode of the Empire Podcast would surely deserve to get a full fat five points from Greg Davies, the Taskmaster himself, as Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and John Nugent apply themselves wholeheartedly (some more wholeheartedly than others, it must be said) to deciding which Taskmaster contestant has appeared in the best film. Then, the podteam take a look at the week's movie news and, in a bumper reviews section, cast their eyes over Edgar Wright's The Running Man, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein, Ruben Fleischer's Now You See Me: Now You Don't, Julia Ducournau's Alpha, Gurinder Chadha's Christmas Karma, and James Vanderbilt's Nuremberg. Three of those movies provide this week's guests, as Edgar Wright drops by the podbooth to natter with Chris about The Running Man, and meeting Stephen King; [21:43 - 33:05 approx] Now You Three Me's Isla Fisher and Rosamund Pike talk magic and manky accents, again with Chris; [56:16 - 1:09:05 approx] and Michael Shannon talks Nuremberg and (mostly) R.E.M., also with Chris. [1:42:53 - 1:55:38 approx] Oh, and there's a huge revelation about the pod itself lurking within there somewhere. Forget what you think you know... and enjoy.

Alpha is the third film from the brilliant French filmmaker, Julia Ducournau, following on from her titanic debut, Raw, and her raw follow-up, Titane (which won the Palme D'Or, no less!). A tale of an unusual epidemic and generational trauma, there's much going on above and below the surface, which we get into in this interview special, as Jamie Graham sits down on Zoom with Ducournau and the actor Tahar Rahim, who plays the title character's drug-addicted uncle. It's a great interview, and if you fancy going to see Alpha after listening to this, it's out now in cinemas across the UK. Enjoy.

Nicholas Hytner's The Choral, a delightful drama set in 1916 Yorkshire, is in cinemas now, folks. It features costumes designed by the legendary Jenny Beavan, who is one of the best costume designers in the business. Nominated for 12 Oscars, winner of three, Beavan has worked with directors like Robert Altman, James Ivory, and George Miller across an astonishing forty-year career, and we were delighted when she popped into the podbooth recently to talk with our Chris Hewitt about that career and her approach to costume design. Enjoy.

Every year at the London Film Festival, Empire hosts a gala screening for a film that we particularly admire. This year's choice was Ronan Day-Lewis' Anemone, a drama that we called 'sad, absurdist, brooding, tender, and intense', and which marks the return to acting of the great Daniel Day-Lewis, father of Ronan and co-writer of the movie, after eight years away from the screen. It's good to have him back, for he's electric in this, going toe-to-toe with a never better Sean Bean as two brothers attempting to reconcile, after a fashion, in a secluded cabin. And the morning after the gala at the LFF in October, Alex Godfrey sat down with Daniel Day-Lewis and Sean Bean for a candid chat about their approaches to, and reasons for, acting; [2:05 - 24:00 approx] and then Ronan Day-Lewis for a conversation about the film, and directing his own dad. [24:19 onwards, approx] And we're delighted to bring you both of those in this interview special, now that Anemone is out in cinemas in the UK. Enjoy!

Blimey, this week's episode of the Empire Podcast is star-studded, and then some. First, Chris Hewitt chats with Die, My Love star, Jennifer Lawrence, and director Lynne Ramsay, about unpredictability on set and receiving an email from Martin Scorsese; then, he has a crash course in Yautja from Predator: Badlands stars Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi and Elle Fanning; and then Alex Godfrey pops up to have a lovely natter with the stars of new drama, Anemone, Sean Bean and Daniel Day-Lewis, returning to acting after a long hiatus. Then, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Alex, James Dyer and, dialling in (hence the odd glitch here and there), Helen O'Hara to discuss just how much they want to see a Steven Soderbergh-directed Star Wars movie, which Ghostface they could take in a fight, the week's movie news (including resurrections for The Mummy, Gremlins, and Miss Piggy), and their thoughts on Predator: Badlands, The Choral, Anemone, and Die, My Love. Enjoy!

Blimey, this week's episode of the Empire Podcast is star-studded, and then some. First, Chris Hewitt chats with Die, My Love star, Jennifer Lawrence, and director Lynne Ramsay, about unpredictability on set and receiving an email from Martin Scorsese; then, he has a crash course in Yautja from Predator: Badlands stars Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi and Elle Fanning; and then Alex Godfrey pops up to have a lovely natter with the stars of new drama, Anemone, Sean Bean and Daniel Day-Lewis, returning to acting after a long hiatus. Then, Chris is joined in the podbooth by Alex, James Dyer and, dialling in (hence the odd glitch here and there), Helen O'Hara to discuss just how much they want to see a Steven Soderbergh-directed Star Wars movie, which Ghostface they could take in a fight, the week's movie news (including resurrections for The Mummy, Gremlins, and Miss Piggy), and their thoughts on Predator: Badlands, The Choral, Anemone, and Die, My Love. Enjoy!