On this week’s episode of the Awards Tour podcast, Rotten Tomatoes Awards Editor Jacqueline Coley chats with the actor-comedian Ike Barinholtz, who can currently be seen co-starring in The Studio. In the series, Barinholtz plays Sal Saperstein, the mercurial cocaine-using right-hand man to Seth Rogen’s Matt Remick, the embattled newly appointed head of Continental Studios. Loosely based on Rogen and his partner Evan Goldberg’s time working on the lot at Sony Pictures, The Studio is one part Entourage, one part Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Tune in as Barinholtz talks about the difficult yet fun way the series is shot, his favorite celebrity cameo so far, and how his improv training prepared him as an actor to commit to any situation. Check out the freshly renewed The Studio, which earned a second season on AppleTV+, and we’ll see you on the next stop on the Awards Tour.
Jacqueline Coley for Rotten Tomatoes: The SXSW Premiere was something. Crazy reviews and reactions. What was that like for you? Had you been before?
Ike Barinholtz: I’ve had a few things premiere there. The first thing was Neighbors. Way back in the day, it was at Paramount Theater, and it is the greatest place to premiere something — the crowd is so ready to go. And then I went back when Blockers was happening. My wife was giving birth to our daughter the day before or after, so I couldn’t go, and I hold that against my wife and child still. I’m still very upset about that. And then I was there a couple of years back when Jordan Peele premiered Us.
So I’ve had experience there in that theater that weekend, and it is always great, but you never know. You know what I mean? You never know. It’s always a different time. This is a TV show, not a movie. Will it play the same? About a minute or 90 seconds into that screening, a couple of big laughs came, and I was just like, I let go. I was like, “Okay, I think the folks are gonna like it.” And then they definitely did. It played just great. You don’t get to watch a TV show in a crowd a lot, and that really is fun and cool.
The Studio is streaming now on Apple TV+.
