An Evening at Inside the Actors Studio

Anyone who is a fan of the acclaimed series Inside the Actors Studio on Bravo may not realize just how long the entire taping lasts. What is generally broadcasted and edited on television for only one hour is actually taped in front of a live audience for an additional three hours.  

To summarize the television program of 16 years, each show features host James Lipton interviewing a famous, accomplished artist in film, television or theater. The first 75 percent of the interview consists of questions regarding the artist's upbringing, training and experience working in film or television.

The last 15 minutes, entitled "The Classroom Session," consists of a well-known routine questionnaire that Lipton asks on every show, followed by a limited amount of questions asked by Lipton's acting students in the audience. Past guests include Natalie Portman, Denzel Washington, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett, Steven Spielberg, Robin Williams, Sarah Jessica Parker, Stephen Sondheim, Angelina Jolie, Johnny Deppand, most recently, Betty White.

One of Lipton's recent guests was movie actor James Franco (Pineapple Express, Milk). Franco casually walked onto the stage at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts, to a sold-out house of excited fans of all ages. Throughout the interview he was relaxed, very funny and had quite a bit to say about anything Lipton inquired about.

Franco shared personal stories about past girlfriends, gaining an interest in acting, one of his first jobs as a drive-thru worker at McDonald's and working on set with A-list Hollywood actors like Tobey Maguire, Sean Penn and Robert De Niro. As the hours trailed on, both Franco and Lipton began to get very technical. They spent the most time discussing 127 hours, Franco's latest film that has critics noting an Oscar-worthy performance from the actor.        

Franco began with a bundle of energy that slowly dwindled over the course of the taping. It may have been due to the fact that the first part of the interview went two and a half hours straight before everyone took a break or that Franco started to get tired or overstressed, for at times, his answers seemed redundant. Although he took very long pauses to think and answer Lipton's routine questionnaire, he managed to answer with a sarcastic sense of humor.              

While Franco was obviously the main attraction for the event, his interviewer was also fascinating to watch live. Lipton is the host but also the executive producer of Actors Studio as well as a dean and professor of acting technique at Pace University. He has even become a popular icon, as one of the myriad impersonations performed by former Saturday Night Live comedian Will Ferrell. Lipton is just as entertaining to listen to and observe as an interviewer. His dry, subtle sense of humor made an impression on both Franco and the audience — one can only hope that one day they could have him for a class.

Despite quite a lengthy occasion, a trip to see a taping of Inside the Actors Studio is a treat. While you may not be going to the Academy Awards or a Broadway show, this is the place to see the actors we admire at a natural and personal level.