From watching my in-depth interview with professional moderator Mara Webster, you have a background understanding of what preparation is required, and how one approaches their guest for a celebrity interview.
This article takes it a step further by using not only examples of Mara’s interview videos but how to compare her style to that of other professional moderators with the same people. It is interesting to see how these moderators approach their guest with what questions under what venue and circumstances, but also how the guests’ answers vary depending upon the moderator’s questions, their own interpretation or preparedness, acquaintance, the venue, and the project being promoted itself.
Part A of this article features Rebecca Hall’s
interviews from 2020 about her acting in Tales From The Loop and then in
2021 as the writer & director of Passing.
Part B features Steven Yeun for his interesting roles in numerous dramas and comedies, and of course in The Walking Dead, the latter of which allows analysis of
Comic Con interviews. Part C features Hillarie Burton’s interviews over
the years from acting in One Tree Hill in the early 2000s, then as an
actor for the late 2020s’ Christmas-themed movies; with a side-note to her
first career as an MTV VJ for TRL alongside Carson Daly. And Part D
features the incredible Jenelle Riley for her prolific seemingly non-stop work
on behalf of Variety.
(Part A is here and Parts B thru D will be posted separately.)
Part A – Rebecca Hall
A great place to start is Mara Webster’s interview with Rebecca Hall for Tales From The Loop for the SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Conversations-At-Home in March/April 2020. You can watch their full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twujzahgses *And you can read my closer look at one of the show’s episodes here.
