André Balazs Lightning Round

Few contemporary actors better represent the bravado and edginess of New York City natives than Natasha Lyonne. Over a four-decade career that began with a role on Pee-wee’s Playhouse, Lyonne has become known for portraying characters that are gruff but likeable, hard-nosed but sympathetic. She’s exhibited these traits in films ranging from Everyone Says I Love You to American Pie; but her brashness truly hit the mainstream in 2013, upon the release of Netflix’s Orange Is The New Black. That show kicked off a run on television that has found her as the creator and star of recent hits such as Russian Doll and Poker Face, the latter of which just released its much-anticipated second season. On this week’s episode of Table for Two, the actress joins host Bruce Bozzi to discuss New Yorkers’ street smarts, why she loves Richard Pryor’s Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling, and the genius of Maya Rudolph.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you know anything about Natasha Lyonne’s character in Orange Is the New Black—let alone her rollicking roles in Russian Doll and Poker Face—you know that she’s an expert at using colorful language to dramatic effect. But off-screen, what is her go-to curse word? On this week’s bonus episode of Table for Two, the actress joins host Bruce Bozzi and discusses the performer she most wants to work with but hasn’t, the first thing she notices in a man, and the best advice she’s been given. Hear a preview of the episode below, and listen and subscribe on the iHeartRadio App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Graydon Carter is quite aware that no matter how well planned a party is, it is always at risk of being ruined by an impolite guest. But of all the social faux pas he’s been privy to, which was the most out of line? On this week’s bonus episode of Table for Two, Carter joins host Bruce Bozzi and discusses his go-to variety of wine, the most beautiful person he’s ever met, and why the south of France is his favorite place in the world.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People generally set out to write their memoirs in times of relative boredom or malaise—in other words, when they’ve retired. Not so for Graydon Carter. He began working on his new memoir, When the Going Was Good, just after leaving his post at the helm of Vanity Fair, where he was editor for 25 years, and as he was starting AIR MAIL. But then, whether Carter was lampooning the excesses of 1980s New Yorkers in Spy, hosting Oscar parties for the ages at Vanity Fair, or poring over the seating charts for his Greenwich Village restaurant The Waverly Inn, he never was one to loaf. On this episode of Table for Two, he joins host Bruce Bozzi to discuss his experience working as a railroad lineman in Canada, the moment he realized the golden age of print was nearing its end, and how he was able to effectively separate his work and family life.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adrien Brody's performance in The Brutalist is so singular that it's almost impossible to tell which actors he takes inspiration from. So why not ask the man himself? On this week’s bonus episode of Table for Two, the Academy Award-winner (and nominee for this year’s Best Actor Oscar) joins host Bruce Bozzi to discuss his first big purchase upon making it in Hollywood, his favorite band, and his go-to cocktail.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adrien Brody readily admits that the New York City he grew up in was rough around the edges. A native of Jackson Heights, Queens, he says the years he spent there in the '70s and '80s toughened him, but also made him empathetic—in other words, it gave him the ammunition he needed to become an actor. It wasn’t long into Brody's career that minor successes became major ones. Early roles in Restaurant and Summer of Sam in the late 1990s led to Roman Polanski’s The Pianist in 2002, a part that made the 29-year old the youngest to ever win the Academy Award for Best Actor. And while Brody’s career hasn’t slowed in the intervening decades, his latest performance, in The Brutalist, has drawn the same type of rare, unanimous acclaim that his breakthrough in The Pianist did. On this episode of Table for Two, Brody joins host Bruce Bozzi to discuss what drew him to the performing arts, the mental toll of method acting, and his perspective on this year’s Oscars, which take place March 2nd.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Damian Woetzel’s rise to the top of the ballet world seems straightforward. From his childhood in Boston he demonstrated an aptitude for ballet; by his late teens, he was touring nationally as part of the Los Angeles Ballet; and in the mid-1980s, at 18, he eschewed college to pursue a career as a dancer in New York City. Over the following two decades, Woetzel climbed the New York City Ballet’s ranks, first becoming a principal dancer, then a household name. In his mid-30s, with the prospect of retirement looming, Woetzel decided to head up to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he graduated from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government in 2007 with an M.P.A., a distinction that, a decade later, led to him becoming The Juilliard School’s seventh president. On this episode of Table for Two, Woetzel joins host Bruce Bozzi for lunch at IRIS in New York City, where they discuss his early years in New York, former U.S. Representative Gabrielle Gifford’s role in motivating him to return to school, and his plan for leading an arts conservatory into the modern age.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As a standout New York City Ballet dancer from the 1980s through the early 2000s, Damian Woetzel featured in acclaimed productions ranging from Jerome Robbins’s "West Side Story Suite" to George Balanchine’s "Swan Lake." But which ballet was his favorite? Find out on this week’s bonus episode of Table for Two, in which the current Juilliard School president joins host Bruce Bozzi to discuss his biggest pet peeve, the best advice he’s ever received, and his favorite New York City activity.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Considering his ownership of some of the world’s most renowned hotels—Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, Chiltern Firehouse in London, and The Standard in New York, among others—it’s somewhat surprising that André Balazs wasn’t always in the hotel business. The Boston-born Cornell and Columbia graduate actually began his career in biotech, co-founding a company called Biomatrix with his father in the late 1980s. It was a huge financial success, but Balazs felt as though his work life was infringing on his personal life, and wanted to find a way to reconcile the two. What better way to do that than running a hotel? After establishing The Mercer Hotel in SoHo, Balazs built out a fleet of idiosyncratic, abundantly stylish, and much beloved hotels. On this week’s episode of "Table for Two," the hotelier joins host Bruce Bozzi to discuss his design philosophy, the most challenging aspect of his job, and his close relationship with Andy Warhol.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When asked to name his favorite movie, André Balazs likens the question to trying to pick his favorite hotel—a problem that the owner of the Chateau Marmont and Chiltern Firehouse (among other properties) might know a thing or two about. On this week’s bonus episode of "Table for Two," the businessman and hotelier joins host Bruce Bozzi to discuss the first thing he notices in a woman, whether he prefers New York or Los Angeles, and the best piece of advice he’s received.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.