Chalamet: People want a mirror of the things they see — they want to see things shot in a way that doesn’t feel like the sheen of Hollywood is there, and they want to see stories that feel real. That’s what I think. What do you think?

Stone: I totally disagree with you. We are on totally different pages, but whatever, it’s fine. Just kidding — you’re absolutely right. It’s an exciting time. There’s a lot of shift happening.

Chalamet: It felt like “The Favourite” was a tone I hadn’t seen you in before. I saw an interview where you said it was a very conscious choice to have a scene with nudity because you felt like it was true to the script.

Stone: I truly have never in my whole time working, which is not that long, I guess — it’s 12 or 13 years now — I have never, ever made a decision because I was like, “This is the kind of thing I need to do.” Now I try to combine all three elements of the script, the character and the director, but at different times it’s either that I am dying to work with this director or the script is incredible, or the character. It’s always been about that and not about that it needs to be this big movie or I need to show my tits or whatever.

Washington: I rid myself of all hip-hop, R&B, EDM. And the Cranberries as well, I love them. Steady diets of War, of Sly & the Family Stone, Led Zeppelin. This was for three months. I would go to bed to "Soul Train" every night, I would watch “Super Fly” weekly and saw what that was doing to my spirit. What that was going to my psyche, how I was talking, maybe even how I was posturing. And that was all prior to talking to Ron. I've never experienced anything like that, the kind of preparation that Spike introduced me to. Tell me how you found “Green Book.”

Ali: “Green Book” came, and the characters really popped off the page. I thought there’s a chemistry in the writing that was there. I thought the story was important. What I thought was amazing about Don Shirley was that he was an archetype, a person that I had never seen before on-screen. Usually when we go back pre-1975 or especially pre-civil rights, we are clearly in this place of oppression. That exists in this film, but I think my character is the most empowered you could be in that time. This is a guy who is the boss in that car. Because he didn’t even have to go on the tour. He could go to Europe, make his money, have his career. He could stay up North, but him going down into the South was a choice. He wanted to put himself on the front lines in his own unique way and allow people to be exposed to the type of man, the type of black man, that he was in order to sort of pierce the consciousness so that they couldn’t just think of us as sharecroppers.

Washington: A wise man told me, “If it ain’t on the page, it ain’t on the stage.” So once you saw it on the page, how did you start coming into everything?

Ali: I feel like the experience, specifically speaking of actors of color, you are kind of tasked with turning water into wine. I’ve always felt like I had to try to elevate something, even if it didn’t need to be. I always felt like I had to find something else that is not even on the page to bring to it because I was only going to be in it for three scenes anyway, right? With this, I understood that it existed in broad space; this is a film that a lot of people could be attracted to. Sometimes those get dubbed “commercial.” So what I wanted to do with this character that existed in a broader space was make sure that he had the complexity, the necessary complexity, for him to resonate as being truthful

Nyong’o: You work both as a producer and actor in your work, as well as just as an actor like you did with this. What is your relationship with control?
McCarthy: I’m a big fan of it. I want the sets to be right. I will sit and talk about the rug that our director wants to get. I feel like I’ve never met anyone truly as interested.

Nyong’o: Do you do that also when you’re not a producer in a movie now?

McCarthy: Yeah, I do. Not because I’m like, “Listen to me or else.” It’s just part of the fun. It’s also how I get into the character, because I’ll already be familiar with sets and I know the weird thing I put in a drawer. I also wanted the control because I wanted to put real women into movies. Funny, dramatic, whatever it is. Don’t you feel that unless you take that control, it is often presented to you [as] “This is a real woman” — yet it’s no one either one of us would recognize as a real human?

Nyong’o: When you have a say in the creation of the thing, then you can nip that in the bud. That’s the attraction to producing. It feels really good. I’m in the early stages of doing that as well, developing, adapting books for the screen. It is very rewarding. I haven’t yet been in the situation where I’m producing and acting yet. I’m curious to know what that’s going to be. The moment I step on set, I kind of need to reclaim my sovereignty as just the character. I wonder when I’m a producer what that’s going to be like when they’re like, “Oh, we don’t have enough dry ice for the scene that’s two weeks from now.”

McCarthy: It does tend to split your brain. You start to see the matrix and you are like, “Wait. We can’t. That’s never going to get shot in time.” Would you ever direct?

Nyong’o: I don’t enjoy that level of control, quite honestly. I’m very subjective to one person’s point of view. I do enjoy directing documentary. That’s something that I’m interested in. The documentary I did previously, in film school, was about people with albinism in Kenya and the complications of this condition that was really misunderstood. I like being in a totally new terrain and figuring it out. I want to be an eternal beginner.

McCarthy: I’ve directed television, and I’ve directed a short, and I like it. I would prefer to not be in it; I don’t like the split. I don’t know about a feature. At some point, I will, but I have to wait until a story really owns me and I just can’t let it go.

Miranda: OK. Music, check. Big movie, you’re incredible in it, check. Do you ever want to do eight shows a week on Broadway?

Gaga: Check. I’d love that. That was my dream. I think I’ve seen “Rent” probably 30 times.

Miranda: ”Rent’s” the one that got me writing. I saw it for my 17th birthday. I always loved musicals, but they never took place in the present.

Gaga: I lost my mind when I saw “Rent.” I used to go — you stand in line and put your name in, and they call a raffle.

Miranda: They invented the lottery system.

Gaga: I’m like staring at Maureen as she’s belting. I’m just like, I just want to be Maureen. For many years, record executives told me I was too theater.

Miranda: Any record executive using “theater” as pejorative, you know you’re dead to me.

Jordan: When did you start producing?

Theron: I was asked to do “Monster,” with a first-time director, Patty Jenkins. She wanted to make a film that took some really big risks, and ultimately I knew we were going to end up in a situation where we might be asked to not take that much of a risk. And that she might not be able to fight for that. So it came out of that necessity of wanting to protect her and the film.

Jordan: And that’s where your production company Denver and Delilah came from?

Theron: Yeah. When we finished the film and started to find a buyer for it, we couldn’t. Everybody was like, “It’s a great movie, but I don’t want it. I don’t know what to do with this.” And we were, I think, a day away from signing a Blockbuster deal for it to go straight to video. And it just happened that [the distributor Newmarket] showed up. Then I got nominated and won an Academy Award for it. So, miracles happen.

Jordan: Trust your gut.

Theron: We are seeing the payoff for big risks. Like “Black Panther.”

Jordan: Oh, for sure.

Theron: That’s a huge risk. Movies like “Tully” are obviously not as big a financial risk, but they’re still a risk because what they say is “Who wants to go see a movie about postpartum depression?” Well, you know what, 50% of the population out there are women, and I think 40% of them are having kids, so go fuck yourself.

Jordan: I started my own production company last year. I feel like you guys, you fought those hard battles in the beginning that got us to this tipping point. For me, making sure inclusion is implemented on every one of my projects that I’m producing is important. The inclusion rider was the first time I actually saw an official document for it. As a black actor — as a person of color — I wouldn’t have thought about it. It’s second nature. It’s OK, of course I’m hiring strong women. People of color, of course, great. People from different social backgrounds and communities, of course.

Theron: Live by example. Show by example.

Johnson: Let’s talk about “On the Basis of Sex.” What made you want to make that film?

Hammer: I read the script that Mimi Leder, the director, sent to my agent and thought, “This is a superhero movie about a woman who changed the world without needing powers or a cape. She just used her brain.” I liked the idea of my daughter being able to actually watch one of my movies.

Johnson: You don’t think she’s going to like “Call Me by Your Name”?

Hammer: Probably not. “Daddy, what are you doing?” Do you think sex in the movies is dead?

Johnson: Yeah, because I killed it. I think movies are meant to tell both completely unrealistic and completely realistic stories. I think Luca fully embraces the humanity of it. And I think that’s what I love about him and the way he sees relationships. And also, I think in studio films, of course, you’re covered up because sex and nudity make people uncomfortable because people in America, specifically, have been sexually oppressed for so long. So maybe it’s a testament to being a European filmmaker.

Blunt: When you’re doing Broadway are you nervous? Do you love it?

Jackman: Yes and yes.

Blunt: What happens if your voice just cacks out?

Jackman: I started in theater, in a way it's the place I feel most at home. When something goes wrong ­— a piece of set doesn’t come up, someone gets sick and someone new comes in — I love that. I kind of go, “Oh. This is great.”

Blunt: I felt my palms just start to sweat. Even at the thought of it.

Jackman: It's such a great counterpart to doing film. One makes you sharper for the other. Vocally, I was super nervous. When I did "The Boy From Oz" I had 20 songs and it was 8 shows a week. I didn't speak during the day for the first bit, poor Deb... I wouldn't go out afterwards, sleep in, I had no coffee for a year because someone told me it dehydrates you. So I didn't do anything, but what you realize particularly in Broadway, you have so many people who will help you get through that show. If you have a sore throat, if you’re in London, the doctor says, “Let it run its course. Take a few shows off.” In America, they’re like —

Blunt: Steroid shot.

Jackman: “Pants down! Let’s go. See you later.”

Blunt: Does it work when you get a steroid shot?

Jackman: Yeah

Jones: I can see why “Crazy Rich Asians” has been such a phenomenal success. It is full of such life and love and hope. How has that experience been?

Wu: My emotions have run the gamut. There was a lot of anticipation behind it. It’s a lot of pressure. The fact that a studio decided to invest in a story from creators of color who didn’t necessarily have a track record of box office success — not because they aren’t a viable box office success but because there was no data to show that we had that — that gave it an authenticity that Asian-American audiences really responded to because we don’t have representation. Other people who are not Asian-American still respond to it because it’s very much about being seen for who you are.

Jones: It should have happened centuries ago. It does feel that the landscape is getting more interesting now that this patriarchal attitude towards filmmaking is breaking down. With a film like “Crazy Rich Asians,” it’s a fusion of quality and reaching a lot of people. There’s no reason that a film can’t be good but millions of people want to see it.

Wu: It’s also because of criticism these days. The critics are primarily male, so it’s seen from a male point of view. There’s a reason why we have the term “chick flicks.” We don’t have “dude movies.” They are just movies.

Jones: That’s why we need 50/50 in male and female critics. It brings a totally different perspective to a film, and it feels deeply unfair that it’s so one-sided. The male view has always been the view, and that is what is shifting. We all live here together, so it’s going to be shared views.

Adams: I had a contest with Christian to see who could memorize it first, and he won, of course. I have a feeble brain. He won, and that was with him working every day at two o’clock in the morning getting makeup on. I was not happy about it.

Kidman: I have a tough time learning lines. There’s different directors, and sometimes there’s improvising; sometimes you can move around the line and fill in, and other times it literally is to the rhythm, to every piece of punctuation. You take a breath when they want you to take a breath. Have you run that scope of directors?

Adams: Oh, absolutely. David O. Russell will throw lines to you in the middle of a scene, and you’re just saying them while in these intense situations.

Kidman: But I love that. People say, “What’s your process?” Well, it changes every film.

Adams: I agree, and I think that it’s so important to have that adaptability, because you never know the actor you’re going be working with, the director, what the day calls for. I always find that if I go into a scene with an idea of how this scene’s going to go, it never goes that way. And that’s when you get lost, when you’re trying to steer the scene. I used to try to steer scenes and I would get really panicky. There was this scene in “The Master” where I was supposed to wake [Joaquin Phoenix] up and he wasn’t waking up. I freaked out. I’d pour water on his head now; I’d be like, “You want to play that game, Joaquin, here you go.” I didn’t roll with it, and I learned a lesson from that.

Kidman: My one thing I struggle with is to get through my shyness. Because if I’m willing to speak up and not be obedient all the time, then I’m free and I do much better work. But if I haven’t worked for a long time, I’m a little bit rigid and scared. Strangely enough, because “Destroyer” required so much fatigue and so much kind of just [being] beaten down, that kind of worked for it. I try to never fight whatever I’m given. I learned that early on from people like Jane Campion and even [Stanley] Kubrick. He’d lose a location and shrug, and create something better, actually.

Mortensen: There was a line in “Black Panther” that W’Kabi, Daniel Kaluuya, says. He’s arguing, “Protect Wakanda.” And he sees the pressure from the world outside. It echoed what’s going on in this country now and this fear of people who are different. Fear of what the country is made of and of immigrants. He goes, “If we let refugees into Wakanda, they will bring their problems with them. And then Wakanda will be like everywhere else.” It almost sounded like the current president of the United States.

Boseman: Right.

Mortensen: We have to come to grips with the fact that people are going to go where they can find work. Where they can find food. We’ve got to get over this “building walls” thing.

Boseman: We were prepping for the movie when the election happened. We literally were like, “OK, tomorrow Hillary will be president-elect.” And the next morning, you’re like, “Oh, my gosh.” The script was already written. Those lines were already in there. It’s unbelievable at times. We’re like, “Well, can we keep that line? Well, we have to keep it because it’s true.”

You were talking about the walls — you know, our society can’t exist if we continue to build walls. We have to break those walls in order for us to advance. What I loved, also, about “Green Book” was that you actually see those invisible walls between the characters slowly break down.

Mortensen: You break down ignorance through experience.

Elliott: There was this quote from I think Stanislavsky or one of those guys about how there are no small parts, only small actors. I’m never sure what that meant. I know there’s no small parts, but was he talking about an actor’s stature or the smallness of one’s performance?

Close: I think a great actor can fill out a small part and make it important and resonant in the film, which is something that you certainly do in “A Star Is Born.”

Elliott: I remember Bradley telling me, “If you trust me, you’ll be glad you did it.” Because neither one of us really knew what Bobby was gonna be. It certainly was an integral part and an important part, but not a big part.

Close: One of the images that really stays with me is the last close-up with your eyes. It’s very, very, very moving.

Pike: Those children trusted you; Emily obviously trusts you.

Krasinski: Well it’s all high-wire acting. If you don’t trust that person, there’s a much bigger chance of falling.

Pike: Or you’re making yourself super vulnerable, and you’ve got to know that that is in hands that are going to hold you.

Krasinski: People ask Emily all the time: “Did you live with that movie? Did you live with that character?” We are not those people. What do you do when you’re doing “A Private War”? Do you stay in that turmoil? Or do you pop in and out?

Pike: I think I can sort of go home and get on the floor and start playing with Legos.

Krasinski: And that’s not even with your kids, just yourself.

King: Do you think things have changed for us in this industry?

Gyllenhaal: I feel like things have changed in the past year even. To be totally honest, I think the money always lags, so on “The Kindergarten Teacher” we’re a group of women making a movie about a woman, and it’s a wild roller coaster of a movie. We still had no money and we were a group of women, so we were used to it. We were like, “OK, this is how we do it. We’re going make it work, and I’m going to change my clothes in the bathroom on the set and on the ferry.” Which nobody should ever do! But then again, and this is new, a part of me is like, “I’m so proud of us that we did it for nothing. But like, why? Why do we got to do it for nothing?”

King: Until this conversation started happening out loud, I’m embarrassed to say, I didn’t think about the differences. I knew they existed, but I didn’t sit in it. Unfortunately, I just accepted it. I am so excited that we are vocal now because it made me start paying attention.

Gyllenhaal: I truly personally feel different. I’m going to direct a movie.

King: Go on, girl.

Gyllenhaal: It’s far from being real, but even to feel entitled to use storytelling and the things that turn me on. I’m not proud of this, but until this year, I didn’t feel entitled.