Actor’s Roundtable – Future award nominees talk moviemaking

In theaters Friday: Ender’s Game, Last Vegas

New on Blu-ray: Cars 3D, Monsters University

While it never quite reaches the awkwardly comedic peaks of 2011’s roundtable that features a bleary-eyed and laconic James Franco, a stammering and abashedly self-deprecating Jesse Eisenberg sitting opposite a gruff, Kurbick-bashing Robert Duvall who couldn’t hear a thing, The Hollywood Reporter’s awards season Actor’s Roundtable for 2013 is online now and offers a unique look at the personalities and creative processes of the six male actors we’ll all be hearing a lot about from now until credits roll on Oscar night.

The atmosphere is far more communal among this year’s group that features Forest Whitaker (The Butler), Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club), Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club), Josh Brolin (Labor Day), Michael B. Jordan (Fruitville Station) and Jake Gyllenhaal (Prisoners).

1. McConaughey’s current run of stellar indie and dramatic performances (Magic Mike, Mud, and, upcoming, The Wolf of Wall Street and Interstellar) began when he turned down $15 million to play Magnum P.I. in a big budget remake.

2. Director Oliver Stone literally stalked Brolin until he agreed to star as George W. Bush in W, and Brolin agreed finally because he wanted to answer two questions: How did Bush get elected twice and why does everyone want to have a beer with him?

3. “Who cares [if I have to do 60 takes of a close-up] as long as you have someone fighting to make it great,” says Jared Leto, defining what actors really desire from their director, essentially saying he’s happy to work harder for someone who cares than have an easier job with someone who neglects the product. “To have that support is the best feeling in the world.”

4. Other than advice from Whitacker and counsel from Treme and The Wire creator David Simon, Michael B. Jordan has felt that industry veterans are, in general, surprisingly proprietary with their wisdom of experience. “[Making my way has] been trial and error,” he says.

5. Gyllenhaal auditioned for the role of Frodo in The Lord of the Rings, and was terrible. “One of the worst auditions Peter Jackson had ever seen,” he recounts.

Watch the full roundtable below: