Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter Season 2

Songwriters Tori Amos, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Sting, Justin Timberlake and Pharrell Williams reveal their process and how to emotionally connect songs to movies.

Documentary Directors 2017 Oscars Roundtable with Werner Herzog ('Into The Inferno' 'Lo and Behold'), Roger Ross Williams ('Life Animated'), Raoul Peck ('I Am Not Your Negro'), Kirsten Johnson ('Cameraperson'), Josh Kriegman ('Weiner'), and Ezra Edelman ('O.J.: Made in America')

Writers 2017 Oscars Roundtable with Pedro Almodovar ('Julieta'), Allison Schroeder ('Hidden Figures'), Tom Ford ('Nocturnal Animals'), Kenneth Lonergan ('Manchester by the Sea'), Noah Oppenheim ('Jackie'), and Taylor Sheridan ('Hell or High Water')

The Hollywood Reporter's Full Producers 2017 Oscars Roundtable with Matt Damon ('Manchester By The Sea'), Darren Aronofsky ('Jackie'), Frank Marshall ('Sully'), Emma Tillinger Koskoff ('Silence'), Marc Platt ('La La Land'), and Todd Black ('Fences')

2017 Oscars Actress Roundtable with Emma Stone ('La La Land'), Taraji P. Henson ('Hidden Figures'), Annette Bening ('20th Century Woman'), Natalie Portman ('Jackie'), Naomie Harris ('Moonlight'), Isabelle Huppert ('Elle'), and Amy Adams ('Arrival' 'Nocturnal Animals')

Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea), Mahershala Ali (Moonlight), Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water), Andrew Garfield (Silence, Hacksaw Ridge), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Snowden) and Dev Patel (Lion) discuss how they go about researching roles, being typecast and what it's like working with celebrated directors.

The directors of this year's most acclaimed films, Damien Chazelle (La La Land), Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge), Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), Mira Nair (Queen of Katwe), Oliver Stone (Snowden), Denzel Washington (Fences), talk about the filmmaking process.

TV’s top reality talent - Mark Cuban (Shark Tank), Jane Lynch (Hollywood Game Night), Guy Fieri (Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives), Nick Cannon (America’s Got Talent), Mike Darnell (500 Questions) and LL Cool J (Lip Sync Battle) - discuss on-set psychologists, coaxing contestants and America’s first reality star presidential candidate, Donald Trump.

Comedy TV writer-producers including Kenya Barris (Black-ish), Marta Kauffman (Grace and Frankie), Aline Brosh McKenna (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), Alan Yang (Master of None), Nahnatchka Khan (Fresh Off the Boat) and David Mandel (Veep) talk condoms, stunt guests and what they have (and haven't) been able to get away with showing and talking about on the small screen.

Six of television's top drama series bosses- Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot), Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey), Nina Jacobson (American Crime Story), Marti Noxon (UnREAL, Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce), Melissa Rosenberg (Jessica Jones) and John Ridley (American Crime)- open up about the stories that made them genuinely nervous, diversity in Hollywood and what it takes to cast their shows.

Comedy masters, Jeffrey Tambor (Transparent), Aziz Ansari (Master of None), Anthony Anderson (Black-ish), Tony Hale (Veep), Jerrod Carmichael (The Carmichael Show), Rob Lowe (The Grinder), Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele), divulge their most embarrassing moments, who inspires them and the challenges of taking a comedic look at serious topics.

TV's leading funny ladies – Rachel Bloom, Gina Rodriguez, Allison Janney, Niecy Nash, Lily Tomlin, Ilana Glazer – disclose the best advice they ever got, the moment they knew they wanted to become actors and their funniest fan interactions.

Six of the television season's most eclectic drama actors – including Rami Malek, Bobby Cannavale, Wagner Moura, Cuba Gooding Jr., Forest Whitaker, and Paul Giamatti reveal the challenges of letting emotionally demanding characters go, the nuances of real versus fictional characters, and the little known movies they wish everyone had seen.

Six of the year's most sought after drama actresses engage in a candid conversation about sex scenes and nudity as they get older. Sarah Paulson, Julianna Margulies, Kerry Washington, Constance Zimmer, Kirsten Dunst, Regina King, and Jennifer Lopez discuss the advantages of working with female directors, the new landscape of television, and what their first big splurge was.