Dwayne Johnson defies expectations with The Smashing Machine

This week on The Treatment, Elvis speaks with actor, producer and all-around Hollywood powerhouse Dwayne Johnson aka "The Rock.” Johnson stars in the new Benny Safdie film The Smashing Machine alongside Emily Blunt where he portrays real life MMA fighter Mark Kerr. Johnson talks about going deep for the role, performing the role of "The Rock," and what he wants to tackle next in his career (hint: everything!).

Director Joshua Rofé’s unforgettable HBO documentary series The Mortician, about an unethical family-run funeral home, left its mark on audiences. For his treat, Rofé pays tribute to the underrated 1977 William Friedkin film, Sorcerer. Rofé recalls his first time watching it in a theater and breaks down why it’s possibly the best thriller of all time.

 Director Matt Shakman helmed one of the summer’s biggest hits — Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps. But his earliest film inspiration was the 1949 Carol Reed noir The Third Man, starring Joseph Cotton and Orson Welles. Shakman cites the film’s post-war setting, storytelling, and great performances as having had a lasting impact on him. Plus, he reveals a surprising connection between the classic film and Fantastic Four.  

Elvis chats with actor, comedian, and musician Fred Armisen about his fun new album 100 Sound Effects.  From fake applause to champagne glass breaking, this album is stacked. Elvis and Fred talk about the absurd specificity of each track, which sound was surprisingly hard to capture, the evolution of sound effect albums, and their shared love of drumming.   

This week on The Treatment, Elvis speaks with writer-director Edgar Wright. His newest project is an adaptation of the 1982 Stephen King novel The Running Man, starring Glen Powell. They discuss the thrill of collaborating with King on the project, the prescience of the novel, and why it was important to make the protagonist an ordinary guy.  

 Although he’s been retired from the NFL for more than a decade, director and actor Nnamdi Asomugha still gets inspired by a team coming together under difficult circumstances. For his treat, he credits the 2001 miniseries Band of Brothers about paratroopers in World War II  with keeping him going while recuperating from a football injury.

Elvis speaks with director, TV host, and comedian W. Kamau Bell, on making audiences laugh on his current stand-up tour Who's With Me?. They discuss his brand of comedy, what's happening in late night TV and what made his CNN series United Shades of America different from other travel shows.

Director Ari Aster’s films often go in unpredictable directions. That’s apparent in his works including Midsommar, Hereditary, and his latest, Eddington, which stars Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, and Emma Stone. For his treat, he pays homage to a 2024 French film that is more than meets the eye.

Director Nia DaCosta’s new film Hedda is a daring adaptation of the 1891 Henrik Ibsen play Hedda Gabler. DaCosta talks with Elvis about not treating the original text too seriously, using physical spaces to define characters, and what Hedda surprisingly has in common with DaCosta's previous films The Marvels and Candyman.

This week on The Treatment, Elvis speaks with Emmy award winning actor Jeremy Strong about his new film Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere. Strong plays Springsteen's producer and manager Jon Landau in the film about the making of the 1982 album Nebraska. Then, Elvis speaks with photographer Chris Fenimore, who is also the creator of the influential Esquire column "Five Fits With." And on the Treat, Emmy winning writer and director Larry Charles talks about the book that influenced his particular take on comedy.