Fresh Air

Betty Gilpin is seeking anti-algorithm, weird roles – and it's working

I think the goal is to find things that feel anti-algorithm — stories and characters that couldn't have been generated by a machine trying to please everyone. And weirdly, I think that's what connects with people the most, because audiences can feel the difference between something that was made to be consumed and something that was made because someone was burning to make it.

Fresh Air

Betty Gilpin is seeking anti-algorithm, weird roles – and it's working

I think that somewhere along the way I internalized an idea that the goal was to sand off all the strangeness until you become a surface that lots of people can project onto. And what I found is that the more I did that, the more I disappeared, and the more I leaned into specificity and strangeness, the more people seemed to connect.

It's Been a Minute

How artists conquer Tiny Desk | It's Been a Minute

It's because of the intimacy. It's because even still with looking at, you know, here in 2026 where there are so many things that are inspired by what we do. I think that we were one of the first to really create this moment. like when you're watching on screen, you feel like you're there

Fresh Air

Actor Jon Bernthal on grit, dedication & the teacher who saved him

I love opportunities to turn my back on the audience. I love to sort of take it too far to try to push myself to a place or push the audience to a place where they can no longer be with this character, but then try to win them back through showing the fragility of their heart, showing how brokenhearted they are, showing how much pain they have, because I do think pain is a real adhesive. And I think it's the thing that really connects all of us.