Variety Bets It All on 'Actors on Actors'
LOS ANGELES — In a move described by insiders as "either visionary or the end of days," Variety Magazine announced this week that it will double down on its flagship celebrity interview series Actors on Actors, pouring all of its resources into a strategy executives are calling “The Full Actor Immersion Initiative.”
The pivot comes after an exhaustive board meeting where executives decided that the public’s ravenous appetite for watching actors talk about how hard acting is could save the publication from dwindling ad revenue and an increasingly disinterested public.
“We’ve crunched the numbers,” said Variety CEO Clive Hendershot, holding a PowerPoint clicker with the confidence of a man who has never been told “no.” “And the data is undeniable: people love watching famous actors say things like, ‘it’s all about the craft’ and ‘it’s really about listening.’ Why? We don’t know. But we’re betting everything on it.”
The new Actors on Actors lineup, which Variety has rebranded as “Actathon 24/7,” will feature not just A-listers, but a dizzying range of thespians, from blockbuster stars to the understudy of a Broadway revival of Cats. Episodes will now run 14 hours straight, culminating in a mandatory group cry session where participants swap their “most vulnerable on-set stories.”
Industry analysts, however, are skeptical. “I mean, how much mileage can you get from Timothée Chalamet discussing his 'emotional process' with Daniel Day-Lewis for the sixth time this year?” asked entertainment columnist Janine Gorsky. “At some point, they’re just going to start talking about how good the catering was on Dune: Part Two.”
Still, Variety is undeterred. The publication has already sold naming rights to segments like “Smoldering Stares” and “The Long Pause Between Answers, Sponsored by Zoloft.” Rumors are swirling that future episodes will include physical challenges, such as actors competing to see who can cry on cue while reciting a Taco Bell menu.
But perhaps the most ambitious part of the new direction is the Actors on Actors: Live Tour, a traveling stage show where audiences can watch live reenactments of their favorite interviews. “Imagine Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac recreating their infamous conversation about Scenes from a Marriage—only this time, it’s set to interpretive dance,” teased Hendershot.
Whether the public will embrace Actathon 24/7 remains to be seen, but Variety is optimistic. “If this fails,” said Hendershot with a nervous chuckle, “we’ll just pivot to a 24-hour TikTokers on TikTokers. God help us all.”
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