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PODCAST

Fearless Pretender: The Jennifer Jason Leigh Podcast

Fearless Pretender

A podcast examining, in chronological order, the filmography of the great character actress Jennifer Jason Leigh. Each month, Sam Inglis and Jason Shawhan discuss, analyse and, let"s face it, probably argue about a JJL film or TV project. They"ll try to place it in the context of her career, and of its genre and wider place in cinema.

tv & film film history

All Episodes

00:33:04

FP bonus experience: Proof (2001)

Fearless Pretender: The Jennifer Jason Leigh Podcast ·

2025/06/06

Join Jason and special guest Sean Burns (splicedpersonality@bsky.social) as they discuss Jennifer’s October 14th, 2001, performance on Broadway in the play Proof in a very special bonus experience (not an official official episode). The language is explicit, the mood is weird, and CONTENT WARNING: two Americans talking about 9/11 and not in the way that usually happens in the discourse and things get very heavy. These are two people who’ve been friends since 1993 thanks to Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With

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01:08:25

FEARLESS PRETENDER Episode 23: “I Practically Run...

Fearless Pretender: The Jennifer Jason Leigh Podcast ·

2025/02/07

Join Jason and Sam this month as returning guest Liam McCloud saddles up a seat on the fire engine for a discussion of Ron Howard’s 1991 film Backdraft. They also get into Pulsating Door Cinema, The looming Baldwin/Skarsgård Points of Divergence, Casualty!, Celebrity IOU, Fabulous Baker Boys hair, The Pillow Pyro, professionalism as a foundation, Stephen Baldwin’s career that could have been, toxic dynamics in closed structures, Jason making completely unfounded comparisons between US/UK civic

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01:03:20

Episode 22: Unviewable JJL

Fearless Pretender: The Jennifer Jason Leigh Podcast ·

2025/01/10

Join the gentlemen for the latest special episode of Fearless Pretender, where we explore two legendary pieces of Lost JJL work: we explore the remnants left behind of the TV pilot Partners in Life (and the show it eventually became) as well as Stanley Kubrick’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut, examining the ripples left from works which are simply – gone.In addition, you’ll hear Sam and Jason get silly and sorrowful and talk about cartoons, The Wall Of Temptation, more multiverse theory, cult

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01:22:30

Episode 21: "One Big Maze; And I'm The Rat" (Buried...

Fearless Pretender: The Jennifer Jason Leigh Podcast ·

2024/12/06

A TECHNICAL NOTE: Some of y'all may notice it's been longer than usual since our last show, and it's been very heartwarming to hear from listeners checking in to make sure that we're okay, what with general and specific chaos that is currently reshaping the world. The episode on Buried Alive was marked by a catastrophic technical situation that affected the entire second half of Jason's audio track, and while we reconstructed what we could, if things seem a tad 'off' or imbalanced, this is why. We

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01:38:44

Episode 20: "I thought you'd like the 'Party Naked'"...

Fearless Pretender: The Jennifer Jason Leigh Podcast ·

2024/10/04

In addition to discussing George Armitage's Miami Blues, join Sam and Jason this month for an ongoing debate about the intelligence of the character Susie, Desperation Pies, confrontational chest hair, the most unexpected Star Trek comparison you’ll ever encounter, the concept of The Generic becoming oddly Specific by being Generic in multiple spaces, The legacy of the Mayflowers, “Hour Back… Get It,” the Michael Hanekeness of Cockfighter (read Keir-La Janisse’s book!), Tom Tykwer’s Heaven, Koos Van

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01:39:53

Episode 19: Best T**s in the Western World [Last Exit...

Fearless Pretender: The Jennifer Jason Leigh Podcast ·

2024/09/06

This month, Sam and Jason are joined by Dr Linda Marric to talk about 1989’s Last Exit To Brooklyn, following a perhaps more involved pre-episode content advisory than any episode since Flesh + Blood. In addition, we get into Baldwinalia, fat politics, Cabaret, the legacy of Alexis Arquette, Fassbinder blondes, Courtney Love, intersectional dehumanization, Constantin Films, union politics, Metropolis, Dolores as a plural noun, Threesome, Brooklyn grit, pansexual jazz brunch at Stewart’s, Dogville,

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01:30:14

Episode 18: “Yes, It’s a Terrible Risk, and I’m...

Fearless Pretender: The Jennifer Jason Leigh Podcast ·

2024/08/02

To start with:Yanni/Overture (from Heart of Midnight) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_epW6yR8e0s Whitney Houston/I’m Your Baby Tonight* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0oRnyXxIrY X-Men: The Animated Series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAkL2-vh2Sk Join Sam and Jason this month as they discuss 1988’s Heart of Midnight, as well as Steve Buscemi, The Three Mothers, the spectre of AIDS, Tamara de Lempicka, Aphex Twin/”Come To Daddy,” 3D conflict, makeup theory in Lady Vengeance and The Substance,

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01:34:44

Episode 17: “Why Do They Leave Them There?” (The Big...

Fearless Pretender: The Jennifer Jason Leigh Podcast ·

2024/07/05

Join Sam and Jason this month as they’re joined by host of The Directors Club podcast and Chicago-based Film Critic Jim Laczkowski to talk about Christopher Guest’s 1989 debut feature The Big Picture, wherein the following topics may occur: Pay-Per-View, The persistence of vision of Corky St. Clair, The Goodbye Girl: The Musical, fleeting Bechdel moments, Al Cliver/Pierluigi Conti, misunderstanding genre, L.A.’s Vista Theatre, Fran Leibowitz, This Is Spinal Rap (Fear of a Black Hat vs CB4), Logan

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01:24:37

Fearless Pretender Episode 16: Jennifer has nothing...

Fearless Pretender: The Jennifer Jason Leigh Podcast ·

2024/06/07

Join Sam and Jason on this month’s episode of Fearless Pretender, where we finally discuss the elephant in the room [in comments recorded about a month ago] as well as John Stockwell’s 1987 film Under Cover, in addition to satellite dish searches, The LaHabra Sound, the sad winnowing of availability, Witchboard, Rainbow Harvest, the liminal space that is the video store, the difference between college and university, cassette technology, Amber and Johnny, and Cannon Classics.

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01:32:25

Fearless Pretender Episode 15: “I’m Not Afraid To...

Fearless Pretender: The Jennifer Jason Leigh Podcast ·

2024/05/03

Join Sam and Jason as they are joined by Bede “The Terrible Australian” Jermyn to discuss* 1986’s SISTER, SISTER as well as crimes against hair, bayou safety, why nobody’s happy in The House of Mirth, an expansion of the Fearless Pretender Drinking Game, the ritual sparagmos of Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part Two, Schrödinger’s Dub, the perils of running a small business, heroic med-taking, the disconnect when Eric Stoltz doesn’t play a ginger, inescapable “Teach Me How To Love” scenes, suspicious

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01:14:34

FEARLESS PRETENDER Episode 14: “What Good Is It Just...

Fearless Pretender: The Jennifer Jason Leigh Podcast ·

2024/04/05

Join Sam and Jason as they discuss the 1986 filmed theatrical production of PICNIC* as well as take a crash course in the history of Labor Day, House of Gucci syndrome, writer/director conflicts, The Golden Girls, Broadway on US cable TV, flowers for Conchata Ferrell, Duckman, humble fuckability, what determines Southern belletry, and sitcom paleontology.* in a recording that predates some of the developments regarding JJL and her social media presence. Fearless Pretender: Twitter/X /

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01:37:56

Fearless Pretender - Episode 13 "“Is This For Real? I...

Fearless Pretender: The Jennifer Jason Leigh Podcast ·

2024/03/08

Sam and Jason welcome back Craig MacNeil (Craig and Friends) to discuss 1986's The Men's Club, a film which challenges the viewer in unexpected ways. Join them as they discuss this ensemble curiosity, as well as Gwen Welles, Vice Squad, Oliver North, deep kissing and 1980s HIV paranoia, The Before Trilogy, Sasha Grey, Psychoplasmics, shoulder dancing, Season Hubley, brothel breakfasts, '80s homophobia, and All That Jazz. Fearless Pretender's theme music is by Tim Kutz, who just

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01:40:13

Fearless Pretender Episode 12: "You'd be surprised at...

Fearless Pretender: The Jennifer Jason Leigh Podcast ·

2024/02/02

Sam and Jason take an eighteen-wheeler to tradition and welcome two guests for this month’s very special episode, talking about 1986’s THE HITCHER. With Super Marcey (The Super Network) and William Bibbiani (The Critically Acclaimed Network) having thumbed a ride, we talk about the Rutger Hauer/JJL reunion, nihilist homoeroticism, police ethics (and the lack thereof), what makes a Dardenne protagonist, how Americans and Aussies share the special unease of living in a country with desolate roads in

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00:53:29

Fearless Pretender Episode 11: Unmade JJL Vol. 1

Fearless Pretender: The Jennifer Jason Leigh Podcast ·

2024/01/05

For the first episode of 2024, Jason and Sam take a break from their chronological survey of Jennifer Jason Leigh's career and discuss what might have been. In the first of several episodes that will cover films that Jennifer was ALMOST in, we look at a somewhat forgotten 80s coming of ager and an iconic rom-com that made a megastar of its lead in 1990. First up, loose Twelfth Night riff Just One of the Guys, in which Jennifer nearly played the lead role of Terri, a high school senior who

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02:15:30

FEARLESS PRETENDER – EPISODE 10: “You Won’t Get Me To...

Fearless Pretender: The Jennifer Jason Leigh Podcast ·

2023/12/01

This month, Sam and Jason welcome producer Heather Buckley (The Ranger, The Sacrifice Game,Blood and Flesh: The Reel Life and Ghastly Death of Al Adamson, amazing special features on the blu-rays you love for the past fifteen-plus years) to discuss the Paul Verhoeven film Flesh + Blood. It’s a wild and expansive discussion about the most violent and upsetting film ever named after a Roxy Music album that covers a lot of ground and fords some surreal technical issues. Our guest Heather Buckley’s

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01:33:35

Fearless Pretender Episode 9: "I'm going marketing,...

Fearless Pretender: The Jennifer Jason Leigh Podcast ·

2023/10/06

A full length episode for this, Jennifer's only film of 1984, in which she has a tiny supporting part covering only about 3 minutes screen time, might seem a little indulgent, but when Billy Ray Brewton is your guest, you make the most of him. Jason, Sam and Billy Ray talk about the authenticity of the smalltown feel of this coming of ager, about the chemistry between Jamie Lee Curtis and male leads C. Thomas Howell and Patrick Swayze and about the differences between Jennifer's

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01:36:37

Fearless Pretender: Episode 8 - "Where Do They All...

Fearless Pretender: The Jennifer Jason Leigh Podcast ·

2023/08/04

For episode 8, Sam and Jason delve into the theatrical cut of Jennifer's exploitation TV movie, directed by Jonathan Kaplan. First screened as Girls of the White Orchid, but released theatrically with some more overtly sleazy ingredients as Death Ride to Osaka. This time, we're joined by Jonathan Hertzberg of Fun City Editions, who released the film in their excellent Primetime Panic blu-ray set, and brings some insider knowledge having interviewed Kaplan for that release. Among the things

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02:09:41

Fearless Pretender: Episode 7 - "Have you ever heard...

Fearless Pretender: The Jennifer Jason Leigh Podcast ·

2023/07/07

For Episode 7, Jason, Sam and guest Craig MacNeil confront the cultural divide provoked by Rodney Dangerfield and his 1983 Brewster's Millions-alike comedy Easy Money. Among the subjects up for discussion are the genius (?) of Rodney Dangerfield; how good a year the pizza guy at Ridgemont High had after everyone graduated; the merits of RC Cola and Panda Pops; the comic potential of precarious cakes, oh, and Jennifer Jason Leigh's part as Rodney Dangerfield's daughter. Join us for this

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01:24:39

Fearless Pretender Episode 6: "These are all of my...

Fearless Pretender: The Jennifer Jason Leigh Podcast ·

2023/06/02

This time, Jason and Sam tackle another couple of TV projects from Jennifer Jason Leigh's early 80s career. After School Special "Have You Ever Been Ashamed Of Your Parents?" defies the stereotype of these shows by having some excellent writing and nuanced performances (and, yes, a slightly clunkily inserted moral). TV movie "The First Time" sees Jennifer among a quality cast with some great roles for the film's women, in a story that deals with coming of age from a

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01:56:42

Fearless Pretender Episode 5: "Anyone can have sex."...

Fearless Pretender: The Jennifer Jason Leigh Podcast ·

2023/05/05

Sam and Jason tackle the first of this show's white whales: Jennifer's breakthrough role in era defining teen comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Among the subjects up for discussion are the incredibly stacked cast of character actors the film introduced; the existence or otherwise of Linda's boyfriend Doug and the differences between the theatrical and TV versions of the film. We also touch on Roger Ebert's review of the film; male friendship as represented by Rat and Damone; the

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