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The Best Episodes of Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter

Every episode of Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter!

The Best Episodes of Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter

Some of this year's most talked about talent open up about the challenges and triumphs of creating critically acclaimed series and performances.

Seasons7

  1. Background image for Comedy Actresses
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #1 - Comedy Actresses

    S2:E3

    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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  2. Background image for Actresses
    9.0/10(91 votes)

    #2 - Actresses

    S5:E9

    Rebecca Ford, Renée Zellweger, Scarlett Johansson, Laura Dern, Lupita Nyong’o, Jennifer Lopez discuss the craft of acting.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  3. Background image for Drama Actresses
    8.8/10(75 votes)

    #3 - Drama Actresses

    S2:E1

    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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  4. Background image for Comedy Actresses
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #4 - Comedy Actresses

    S3:E2

    Pamela Adlon ('Better Things'), Minnie Driver ('Speechless'), America Ferrera ('Superstore'), Kathryn Hahn ('I Love Dick'), Issa Rae ('Insecure') and Emmy Rossum ('Shameless') talk about typecasting in Hollywood, male nudity vs. female nudity and their most embarrassing moments on set.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  5. Background image for Drama Actors
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #5 - Drama Actors

    S3:E3

    Riz Ahmed ('The Night Of'), Sterling K. Brown ('This Is Us'), John Lithgow ('The Crown'), Ewan McGregor ('Fargo'), Billy Bob Thornton ('Goliath') and Jeffrey Wright ('Westworld') talk about what scenes they were nervous to approach and the process of letting a character go.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  6. Background image for Drama Showrunners
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #6 - Drama Showrunners

    S3:E6

    This season's 2017 Drama Showrunner Roundtable features Ava DuVernay ('Queen Sugar'), Ryan Murphy ('Feud: Bette and Joan'/'American Horror Story: Roanoke'), Noah Hawley ('Fargo'/'Legion'), Lisa Joy ('Westworld'), Jenji Kohan ('Orange is the New Black') and David E. Kelly ('Big Little Lies').

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 WORST Episodes of Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter

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  8. Background image for Directors
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #7 - Directors

    S3:E8

    Six top filmmakers — also including Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman), Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049), Angelina Jolie (First They Killed My Father) and Joe Wright (Darkest Hour) — open up about choosing the right projects ("You don't want to end up in a bad marriage"), firing staff and what it feels like to direct a movie that bombs: "People think you move on, but you don't."

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  9. Background image for Writers
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #8 - Writers

    S3:E12

    Scribes behind six of the season's most unusual scripts — including Darren Aronofsky (mother!), Anthony McCarten (Darkest Hour), Emily V. Gordon (The Big Sick) and Fatih Akin (In The Fade) — reveal the struggles and satisfactions of bringing their words to the screen ("Rule number one: Don't bore an audience") and say nothing is off limits (even porn).

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  10. Background image for Actors
    7.6/10(12 votes)

    #9 - Actors

    S5:E10

    Stephen Galloway, Adam Driver, Adam Sandler, Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks, Jamie Foxx, Shia LaBeouf discuss the craft of acting.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  11. Background image for Directors
    7.4/10(20 votes)

    #10 - Directors

    S1:E10

    The year's most notable directors join for The Hollywood Reporter's Writer Director Roundtable. The directors include Quentin Tarantino ('The Hateful Eight'), Tom Hooper ('The Danish Girl'), Alejandro G. Inarritu ('The Revenant'), Ridley Scott ('The Martian'), Danny Boyle ('Steve Jobs') and David O. Russell ('Joy').

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  12. Background image for Actors
    7.2/10(7 votes)

    #11 - Actors

    S2:E9

    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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  13. Background image for Comedy Actors
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #12 - Comedy Actors

    S3:E1

    Anthony Anderson ('Black-ish'), Kevin Bacon ('I Love Dick'), Ted Danson ('The Good Place'), Brian Tyree Henry ('Atlanta'), William H. Macy ('Shameless') and Kumail Nanjiani ('Silicon Valley') talk about tackling unlikable characters, what it's like making comedy in the current political climate and their proudest moments from their shows.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  14. Background image for Drama Actresses
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #13 - Drama Actresses

    S3:E4

    Nicole Kidman ('Big Little Lies'), Jessica Lange ('Feud: Bette and Joan'), Chrissy Metz ('This Is Us'), Elisabeth Moss ('The Handmaid's Tale'), Oprah Winfrey ('The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks') and Reese Witherspoon ('Big Little Lies') talk about how they prepare for intense scenes and gender equality in Hollywood.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  15. Background image for Comedy Showrunners
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #14 - Comedy Showrunners

    S3:E5

    2017 Comedy Showrunner Roundtable features the talented Gloria Calderon Kellett ('One Dat at a Time'), Scott Silveri ('Speechless'), Judd Apatow ('Girls', 'Crashing', 'Love'), Phoebe Waller-Bridge ('Fleabag'), David Mandel ('Veep') and Kenya Barris ('Black-ish')

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  16. Background image for Actresses
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #15 - Actresses

    S3:E10

    Six top actresses — Mary J. Blige (Mudbound), Jessica Chastain (Molly's Game), Allison Janney (I, Tonya), Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird), Emma Stone (Battle of the Sexes), and Jennifer Lawrence (mother!)— open up about risky roles and how the industry's culture of abuse might finally be on the verge of change

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  17. Background image for Producers
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #16 - Producers

    S3:E11

    THR's Roundtable Series kicks off with superproducers including Jason Blum (Get Out), Eric Fellner (Darkest Hour, Baby Driver, Victoria & Abdul), Seth Rogen (The Disaster Artist) and Ridley Scott (All The Money in the World, Blade Runner 2049) debating tough decisions, surprise successes and sexual harassment in Hollywood.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  18. Background image for Cinematographers
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #17 - Cinematographers

    S3:E13

    The lensing experts behind 'Blade Runner 2049,' 'Dunkirk,' 'Mudbound,' 'The Post,' 'Roman J. Israel, Esq.,' 'The Shape of Water' and 'Suburbicon' open up about their craft and finding a balance with their directors.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  19. Background image for Actors
    6.5/10(2 votes)

    #18 - Actors

    S3:E9

    Tom Hanks (The Post), James Franco (The Disaster Artist), John Boyega (Detroit), Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour), Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) and Willem Dafoe (The Florida Project) open up about their latest films.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  20. Background image for Directors
    6.5/10(10 votes)

    #19 - Directors

    S5:E8

    Greta Gerwig (Little Women), Todd Philipps (Joker), Martin Scorsese (The Irishman), Lulu Wang (The Farewell), Fernando Meirelles (The Two Popes) and Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story) discuss their films.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  21. Background image for Directors
    6.4/10(14 votes)

    #20 - Directors

    S2:E8

    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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  22. Background image for Actresses
    6.4/10(8 votes)

    #21 - Actresses

    S2:E10

    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')

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  23. Background image for Comedy Actors
    6.4/10(11 votes)

    #22 - Comedy Actors

    S5:E2

    Sacha Baron Cohen, Jim Carrey, Ted Danson, Don Cheadle, Henry Winkler and Timothy Simons discuss the craft of acting.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  24. Background image for Actors
    5.2/10(9 votes)

    #23 - Actors

    S1:E12

    Some of the past year's most notable actors join The Hollywood Reporter's Actor Oscar Roundtable. Each actor shares their stories, from their journey to becoming an actor, views on race relations and what racism means, as well as some surprising personal stories along their way. The actors include Will Smith ('Concussion'), Mark Ruffalo ('Spotlight'), Benicio Del Toro ('Sicario'), Joel Edgerton ('Black Mass', 'The Gift'), Samuel L. Jackson ('The Hateful Eight'), and Michael Cain ('Youth').

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  25. Background image for TV Directors
    2.0/10(8 votes)

    #24 - TV Directors

    S5:E7

    Ava DuVernay, Adam McKay, Ben Stiller, David Nutter, Patty Jenkins and Jean-Marc Vallee discuss their work as TV directors.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  26. Background image for Drama Actresses
    NaN/10(0 votes)

    #25 - Drama Actresses

    S1:E1

    Emmy nominees Taraji P. Henson (Empire), Viola Davis (How to Get Away with Murder), Jessica Lange (American Horror Story: Freak Show), and Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Honorable Woman) join Ruth Wilson (The Affair) and Lizzy Caplan (Masters of Sex) for The Hollywood Reporter's drama actress Emmy roundtable where the women discuss character development and their artistic work, as well sexism and sexuality in television.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

Best Episodes Summary

"Comedy Actresses" is the best rated episode of "Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter". It scored 9/10 based on 1 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 7/10/2016. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Actresses".