My Hollywood Story

It’s a special bonus episode … featuring Kumail Nanjiani!

Fresh from his 2026 Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy for his Hulu special Night Thoughts, Kumail Nanjiani is back! Listen in to this special bonus episode featuring an exclusive Q&A between Kumail and the Soho House West Hollywood members who attended his taping in November 2025 wherein he delves more deeply into his stance on not doing an accent when he plays characters of South Asian descent, how he balances doing stand-up comedy with his TV and film acting work and what has most inspired his desire to direct.
Find Kumail’s original episode, published December 10, wherever you get your podcasts!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/its-kumail-nanjiani-his-first-job-was-fixing-laptops/id1813001039?i=1000740673013
 
MY HOLLYWOOD STORY LINKS:
Instagram: @myhollywoodstory
YouTube
Website
SoHo House West Hollywood
Thoughts? Questions? Admiration? Drop us a line at myhollywoodpodcast@gmail.com. And if you like us, drop a review in the comments or give us a few stars! Thanks for hanging out with us!

It’s a special bonus episode … featuring Ruth E. Carter!

With her 2026 Oscar nomination for costume design for Ryan Coogler’s Sinners – her fifth! – two-time winner Ruth E. Carter is now the most-nominated Black woman in Academy history. Listen in to this special bonus episode featuring an exclusive Q&A between Ruth and the Soho House West Hollywood members who attended her taping in November 2025 wherein she reveals her approach to building a character’s personality into her designs, the importance of infusing joy into her work and other trade secrets that have made her a living legend.
Find Ruth’s original episode, published December 17, wherever you get your podcasts!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/its-ruth-e-carter-shes-dressed-malcolm-x-george-costanza/id1813001039?i=1000741648769
 
MY HOLLYWOOD STORY LINKS:
Instagram: @myhollywoodstory
YouTube
Website
SoHo House West Hollywood
Thoughts? Questions? Admiration? Drop us a line at myhollywoodpodcast@gmail.com. And if you like us, drop a review in the comments or give us a few stars! Thanks for hanging out with us!
 
 
 
 

It’s Jay Roach… Mike Myers insisted that he direct Austin Powers even though Jay had never helmed a major comedy before!

How did a brainy kid from Albuquerque diverge from his pre-law studies and go on to helm two of the biggest comedy franchises of all time? Filmmaker Jay Roach joins "My Hollywood Story" for an introspective  - and often very charming - look back at a movie career peppered with a rarefied mix of cinematic juggernauts (Austin Powers, Meet the Parents), high-brow deep-dives into American politics (HBO's Recount and Game Change) and at least one scathing indictment of an enduring TV news brand (Bombshell). Jay also reveals how he met his wife Susanna Hoffs (of The Bangles!) and how making comedies - like 2025's The Roses - has become his most reliable antidote to anxiety.
 
MY HOLLYWOOD STORY LINKS:
Instagram: @myhollywoodstory
YouTube
Website
SoHo House West Hollywood
Thoughts? Questions? Admiration? Drop us a line at myhollywoodpodcast@gmail.com. And if you like us, drop a review in the comments or give us a few stars! Thanks for hanging out with us!

It’s Gus Van Sant ... he beat out Mel Gibson and Robert Redford to direct Good Will Hunting!

How did a Kentucky native turn a love for photography into a directing career that’s made him Oregon’s most iconic storyteller? Filmmaker Gus Van Sant joins My Hollywood Story for a contemplative conversation about his wide-ranging film canon, including his latest film, Dead Man’s Wire. Van Sant reveals the unconventional path he traveled from art student to making seminal indies Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho and the Oscar-winning Good Will Hunting and Milk. Listen in as Van Sant also shares stories about the late River Phoenix, the disappointment of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues and the learning curve of directing Ryan Murphy’s Feud.
 
MY HOLLYWOOD STORY LINKS:
Instagram: @myhollywoodstory
YouTube
Website
SoHo House West Hollywood
Thoughts? Questions? Admiration? Drop us a line at myhollywoodpodcast@gmail.com. And if you like us, drop a review in the comments or give us a few stars! Thanks for hanging out with us!
 

It's a special bonus episode... featuring Kaitlin Olson!

In honor of High Potential's triumphant season 2 return, we are re-airing our Kaitlin Olson episodes!
How does Kaitlin know when she loves - or loathes - a role that's offered to her? And will there ever be an It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia feature film? Tune in to this special bonus episode of My Hollywood Story to hear Kaitlin's previously unreleased responses from his post-interview audience Q&A. She's a hoot!
MY HOLLYWOOD STORY LINKS:
Instagram: @myhollywoodstory
YouTube
Website
NeueHouse Hollywood
Thoughts? Questions? Admiration? Drop us a line at myhollywoodpodcast@gmail.com. And if you like us, drop a review in the comments or give us a few stars! Thanks for hanging out with us!
 

It’s Kaitlin Olson… she got paid to scream at Larry David! (LIVE)

In honor of High Potential's triumphant season 2 return, we are re-airing our Kaitlin Olson episodes!
How did a shy kid from suburban Portland overcome a childhood trauma to become one of her generation’s most prolific comedy actors? Stacey welcomes Kaitlin Olson, Hacks’ two-time Emmy nominee  –  and Sweet Dee from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia! – as she relives her weirdest day-jobs, Groundlings adventures, her bizarre Curb audition, falling in love with her Sunny boss and why she nearly passed on ABC’s mega-hit series High Potential.
LINKS:
Kaitlin's It’s Always Sunny... audition
MY HOLLYWOOD STORY LINKS:
Instagram: @myhollywoodstory
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Website
NeueHouse Hollywood
Feel like telling us something? Great! We're here for it. Drop us a line at myhollywoodpodcast@gmail.com. And if you like us, drop a review in the comments or give us a few stars! We always appreciate your spending your listening time with us. 
 

It’s Patricia Clarkson… director Brian DePalma boosted her role in The Untouchables because he knew she was in debt!

How did the New Orleanian daughter of a politician mom and academic dad ditch speech pathology studies for drama school and go on to earn an Oscar nomination and Golden Globes and Emmy statues? Patricia Clarkson joins “My Hollywood Story” to discuss her legendary acting career, including her recent turn playing the late American labor-rights activist Lilly Ledbetter. Listen in as Patricia reflects on her most career-shaping projects - from 1998’s High Art through her two-time Emmy-winning run on HBO’s Six Feet Under - and how she overcame relentless bullying from disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein over an awards campaign for their 2003 film The Station Agent.
MY HOLLYWOOD STORY LINKS:
Instagram: @myhollywoodstory
YouTube
Website
SoHo House West Hollywood
Thoughts? Questions? Admiration? Drop us a line at myhollywoodpodcast@gmail.com. And if you like us, drop a review in the comments or give us a few stars! Thanks for hanging out with us!
 

It’s Charlie Sheen… his 1996 Friends guest role was his first professional acting gig in front of an audience!

How did the son of an iconic performer (and brother of a Brat Packer) break out in a Best Picture winner and become TV’s highest-paid actor before having Hollywood’s most public drug-fueled meltdown of all time, and live to tell the story? Listen in as Golden Globe-winner Charlie Sheen - now eight-years sober - holds nothing back about his wild ride in Hollywood, including why his family feared for him in doing Platoon; how steroids affected his Major League performance; the secret his revealed to his Spin City cast in 2002; and why he takes full responsibility for the fallout from his dramatic 2011 dismissal from CBS’ hit comedy Two and a Half Men.
 
MY HOLLYWOOD STORY LINKS:
Instagram: @myhollywoodstory
YouTube
Website
SoHo House West Hollywood
Thoughts? Questions? Admiration? Drop us a line at myhollywoodpodcast@gmail.com. And if you like us, drop a review in the comments or give us a few stars! Thanks for hanging out with us!
 

It's Ruth E. Carter ... she’s dressed Malcolm X, George Costanza, Tina Turner, Black Panther and the vampires of Sinners!

How does a self-taught sewer from Springfield, Massachusetts meet Spike Lee and go on to make history as the first Black woman to win a costume design Oscar? Ruth E. Carter joins "My Hollywood Story" for an expansive look inside her legendary career and most impactful collaborations. Listen in as Ruth shares how her stint at an HBCU shaped her artistic sense of self and the path that led her to designing costumes for such groundbreaking films as Do The Right Thing, What's Love Got to Do With It?, Amistad, BAPS and more. She also reveals how Afrofuturism inspired her two-time-Oscar-winning collaborations with Black Panther director Ryan Coogler, whose latest film with Carter - Warner Brothers’ Sinners - has earned $367 million at the global box office.  
 
MY HOLLYWOOD STORY LINKS:
Instagram: @myhollywoodstory
YouTube
Website
SoHo House West Hollywood
Thoughts? Questions? Admiration? Drop us a line at myhollywoodpodcast@gmail.com. And if you like us, drop a review in the comments or give us a few stars! Thanks for hanging out with us!
 

It’s Kumail Nanjiani… his first job was fixing laptops for children on Chicago’s South Side!

How did a movies-obsessed kid from Karachi, Pakistan become one of standup’s most respected comedians and an Oscar-nominated screenwriter? Kumail Nanjiani joins Stacey for a wide-ranging chat about the incredible journey that landed him among Hollywood’s most A-list talents. Kumail recalls how early gigs on Saturday Night Live and Portlandia helped shape his comedic tone; what he loved (and what freaked him out) about making HBO’s Silicon Valley; why he chose to address the backlash to his physical transformation for Marvel’s Eternals in his new Hulu standup special Night Thoughts; and the unexpected personal revelations he experienced co-writing the 2017 film The Big Sick alongside his wife Emily V. Gordon.
 
MY HOLLYWOOD STORY LINKS:
Instagram: @myhollywoodstory
YouTube
Website
SoHo House West Hollywood
Thoughts? Questions? Admiration? Drop us a line at myhollywoodpodcast@gmail.com. And if you like us, drop a review in the comments or give us a few stars! Thanks for hanging out with us!