Nick Hornby and Luis Guzmán

Episode 169

3rd March 2015

Author and screenwriter Nick Hornby made his name with books like High Fidelity and About A Boy. His new novel, Funny Girl is about a British actress starring in a 1960s sitcom. Hornby talks with Jesse about old TV comedy, personal ambition and sitting on a couch next to Adam Sandler. Later, character actor Luis Guzmán tells about the role that changed his life, Pachanga in Carlito’s Way. Plus Jesse enthuses about the 1995 film noir, Devil in a Blue Dress, explaining why it’s so important that Easy Rawlins is “buying in”.

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Photo: Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Nick Hornby on ‘Funny Girl’, Creativity and Ambition

Nick Hornby became famous as a literary writer for men. His first three books were about guys, fans specifically, Fever Pitch was a memoir about Hornby’s love of soccer; High Fidelity was about a record store owner, struggling with love. About A Boy was about a sort of boyish man tending to a mannish boy.

Hornby has since written several other books and screenplays, including Oscar nominee An Education.

His new novel, Funny Girl, is about a working class young woman in the 1960s who leaves her small town in search of a career on television, and her success on a BBC sitcom.

He sat down with Jesse to talk about why he set his novel in the mid-60s (and why its protagonist is a woman), personal ambition and creativity, and what it’s like to be a Hollywood dinner guest.

Funny Girl is available now.

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Photo: Joe Klamar/AFP/Getty Images

Luis Guzmán of Ana Maria in Novela Land on ‘The Part’

Luis Guzmán is a veteran character actor. But back in the early 1990s, he was still working as a social worker on the Lower East Side, and acting was more of a side gig. Then he got a role that put him on the map — the thuggish sidekick Pachanga in the 1993 movie Carlito’s Way.

As Guzmán tells it, everything crystallized with that role.

You can see Luis Guzmán playing evil lawyer Licenciado Schmidt in the new movie Ana Maria in Novela Land, in theaters now.

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The Outshot: Devil in a Blue Dress

Jesse explains why Easy Rawlins, of Devil in A Blue Dress, is a different breed of private detective.

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In this episode...

Senior Producer
Producer
Maximum Fun Producer
Maximum Fun Production Fellow
Video Editor

Guests

  • Nick Hornby
  • Luis Guzmán

About the show

Bullseye is a celebration of the best of arts and culture in public radio form. Host Jesse Thorn sifts the wheat from the chaff to bring you in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary minds in our culture.

Bullseye has been featured in Time, The New York Times, GQ and McSweeney’s, which called it “the kind of show people listen to in a more perfect world.” Since April 2013, the show has been distributed by NPR.

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Senior Producer

Producer

Maximum Fun Producer

Maximum Fun Production Fellow

Video Editor

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