Introducing the Smackdown Panel for '98
Wednesday, July 14, 2021 at 12:00PM 
Writer/director/showrunner Leslye Headland returns to TFE !by Nathaniel R
On Monday July 25th the next Supporting Actress Smackdown and its companion podcast arrive, with a discussion of the 1998 Oscars and more specifically, the Supporting Actress competition. You know what that means. For maximum enjoyment (re)watch Best Picture winner Shakespeare in Love as well as Little Voice, Hilary & Jackie, Primary Colors, and Gods and Monsters and send in your votes by Saturday July 23rd.
Let's meet your fellow panelists, shall we?
DJ ROB CHAMPION
Rob Champion is a New York native who has spent his entire life working in the Entertainment Industry. From employment in companies like Essence Magazine, MTV, DC Comics, Bad Boy Records, Fat Beats Records, and others to becoming one of the premier DJs in the NYC Nightlife scene. In 2016, Rob started "The Cooler Than Ecto Podcast". Taglined, "A Dope Nostalgia Podcast Foe Un-Dope Times", the show discusses Pop Culture events from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s from a perspective that's not just a Straight White Male's point of view. [Twitter | Instagram | Cooler Than Ecto]
JENELLE RILEY
Jenelle Riley is the Deputy Awards and Features Editor at Variety and a host and screenwriter who has received three Emmy Awards for her work on “Actors on Actors.” Her short films include "Warning Labels," starring Karen Gillan, and "Crazy Love." She wrote and directed the award-winning plays "A Kind of Love Story" and "Jane Austen's Emma Frankenstein" for Sacred Fools Theatre. You can frequently see her moderating Q&As with actors and filmmakers at SAG-AFTRA Foundation. [Twitter | Instagram | IMDb]
MITCH SILPA
Mitch Silpa has appeared in the films such as Bridesmaids, The Spy, Heat, The Happytime Murders, Welcome to Me, Along Came Polly, and Unforgettable. TV credits include recurring roles on All Rise, Nobodies, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, and Gilmore Girls, as well as appearances on Will & Grace, Cougar Town, 2 Broke Girls, and Reno 911! He created, wrote, and produced the FOX pilot Amy's Brother (co-written with Jim Cashman) as well as sold the pilot New Dork New Dork (co-written with Jim Cashman) to Warner Brothers. He was nominated for a Writers Guild Award for writing on SNL. He also played “David Blaine” in the David Blaine Street Magic series. He’s a proud alum of the Groundlings Theater of which he was a main company member for 13 years. [Twitter | Instagram | Cameo | IMDb | Official Site]
DASHIELL SILVA
Dash is an illustrator, designer and sometime animator who's bounced in between a lot of industries in his career. Currently he works as a location designer at Netflix. He's obsessed with Oscars stats and trivia and will make sure you know it. [Twitter | Instagram | Official Site]
And we're thrilled to welcome back...
LESLYE HEADLAND
Leslye Headland is an Emmy-nominated writer, producer, and director. Her films include Bachelorette, Sleeping With Other People, and the screenplay to the remake About Last Night. Most recently, Headland served as writer, director, and showrunner for Netflix’s acclaimed series Russian Doll (co-created by Natasha Lyonne and Amy Poehler), which was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards and nine Creative Arts Emmy Awards. Headland is currently working on the Star Wars series The Acolyte for the Disney+ streaming platform and serves as writer, executive producer, and showrunner. [Twitter | Instagram | IMDb ]
HOSTED BY...
NATHANIEL ROGERS
Nathaniel is the creator and owner of The Film Experience. He is a member of Gurus of Gold, Critics Choice Awards, and the Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics and a longtime Oscar pundit here at TFE. His writing has also appeared at other publications including Vanity Fair, Vulture, Slate, Towleroad, and Tribeca Film.
If you are a working actor, a renowned critic, film historian, a novelist, a comedian, or an arts professional of some kind, chances are good that he has meant to invite you to a Smackdown panel, or would have if he happened to know you were obsessed with actresses. [Twitter | Contact | Instagram]
Introducing, Leslye Headland, Mitch Silpa, Smackdown
Reader Comments (22)
In the era of category fraud, please give an extra heart to Dame Judi Dench.
Not as hot as the last one.
Please, don't ever invite people from GoldDerby. They've got the worst taste.
It's Stove!
Kathy Bates better win this!!
Love Leslye Headland! My (now closed) theatre company's last show was The Layover, which she wrote. Can't wait for the smack-a-dack-a-duh-dudduh-dowwwwn!
So Harvey Weinstein's assistant is going to talk about Judi Dench's oscar?
Leslye Headland! Excellent.
I like Janelle Riley; she was always fun on Kris Tapley's old podcast.
Primary Colors is unwatchable.
Is Dash single?... asking for myself :-) haha.
Just out of interest, when should we expect to see the Oscar predictions land?
Got some real data from Cannes now, as well as the fall festivals beginning to announce line-ups, some ideas must be bubbling away...
Give Rachel Griffiths the Oscar for Six Feet Under!
Boxer -- i know i know. thanks for the reminder. When Cannes ends this weekend i will make them the top priority (since i already recorded this podcast ;)
I’m looking forward to this one, great panel. I remember hoping very much Rachael Griffiths would win - Muriel’s Wedding has given us so much.
I mean i remember hoping very much in 1998 - as a teenager living in rural Australia, having seen none of the films- that Rachael Griffiths would win. I don’t know who I’d pick now :)
DAVID -- i have no idea. but you got the twitter and instagram links there so find out ;)
An exceptional lineup! Can't wait to hear the pod.
Nathaniel, please stop being the booger of the bunch. If you're the worst looking than there's no plain or homely representation. We need to be seen too! You're being uglyphobic lol
Leslye Headland?!?! As if I wasn't already stoked for this podcast.
In 1998, I remember Kathy Bates being my top choice. I loved her in PC. Rewatching the movie this weekend to see how it holds up.
I also remember this was the year where Lisa Kudrow potentially came very close to a nomination for Opposite of Sex, which I also loved.
I'm excited for this discussion, and this lineup!
Never knew MItch's name before, but he's one of those quintessential "oh it's THAT guy" actors that one sees pop up time and again. Never put 2 and 2 together to figure out he was those David Blaine vids, but I immediately said "Brunch" seeing his photo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtHC29merkU
It's funny that for me it comes down to an extended cameo (Judi Dench) vs a co-lead (Rachel Griffiths - category fraud?).