Variety Studio: Actors on Actors Season 4

Patrick Stewart and Thomas Middleditch: a nerd match made in heaven. The two talked about “Star Trek,” “Silicon Valley” and even played a game of “F—, Marry, Kill” during Variety and PBS’ “Actors on Actors.”

The “Billy on the Street” star chatted with “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" star Rachel Bloom about how a fan encounter made him “understand the challenges of being Justin Bieber,” how both of them found fame on social media and more.

John Travolta may be a thoroughly established actor, but he still has to fight for his roles. He and Rob Lowe chatted about that and more, including staying relevant in Hollywood and Travolta’s preparation for “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” for Variety and PBS’ “Actors on Actors.”

Aaron Paul ("The Path") & Tom Hiddleston ("The Night Manager") sat down to chat and a bromance was born. The two talked about Paul’s disastrous “Cloverfield” audition, social media and more.

Sarah Paulson described how she transformed into Marcia Clark for “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” studying the lawyer right down to the perfume she used to wear. Bobby Cannavale, meanwhile, remembered an early role of his in Stephen Adly Guirgis’ play alongside Chris Rock, while chatting for Variety and PBS’ “Actors on Actors.”

TV sex scenes might appear steamy to viewers, but the actors who perform them on-screen don’t always feel the heat. “Jessica Jones'” Krysten Ritter and “Outlander’s” Sam Heughan said there’s no pleasure in shooting sex scenes. “I don’t like doing sex scenes, but with Jessica, I always felt like the sex scenes came from such a place of character and strength so it always made sense to me,” said Ritter, who plays the title character on Netflix’s “Jessica Jones.” “I never thought of them as being like anything that spectacular.”

Jennifer Lopez and Felicity Huffman found a maternal common ground during their conversation. The two actresses, who are starring in “Shades of Blue” and “American Crime,” respectively, struggle with juggling motherhood and work — something they say many men don’t experience. “They asked working moms, they said ‘What percentage of you guys feel guilty about working outside the home?’ And it was 98%. And they said, ‘Even part-time moms, what percentage?’ And it was again like 98%,” Huffman said. “And then they asked working dads, both full-time and part-time. And guess what percentage of working dads feel guilty about their kids?” “Was it zero?” Lopez asked. “Goose egg! That’s exactly right; not at all. It’s just so different!” Huffman replied. “You know when it was over for them,” Lopez added.

Kirsten Dunst may not have been the lovable vampire Claudia in “Interview With the Vampire” if it were not for her acting coach. Dunst sat down with Rami Malek for Variety‘s and PBS’ fourth “Actors on Actors” series and revealed that her coach made her re-do her audition after a not-so-perfect performance. “I was with my coach,” she recalled. “He was outside of the room. He listened on the door to hear, like, what I was doing. And he knows I didn’t nail it. And I walked out, and he was like, ‘No, you go back in there.’ He’s like, ‘Apologize to the casting director.’ He’s like, ‘She didn’t do what she can do.'”

“Game of Thrones” actress Emilia Clarke and “Transparent’s” Jay Duplass talk about Clarke’s crazy “Thrones” audition, the awkwardness of filming sex scenes, and more.

“Black-ish” star Tracee Ellis Ross recently sat down with “The People v. O.J. Simpson” actor Courtney B. Vance where they discussed race and the intensity of working in television.

Lady Gaga of “American Horror Story: Hotel” and Jamie Lee Curtis of “Scream Queens” are arguably some of the most famous new faces on TV. But fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be — at least not for Curtis, who told Gaga that it’s “isolating.” The duo also discussed Curtis’ blockbuster films “True Lies,” “The Jinx”, and working with “American Horror Story” creator Ryan Murphy.

Kerry Washington and Aziz Ansari openly discussed everything from Hollywood stereotypes to #OscarsSoWhite.