Billy shares stories from his performances in Sleepers, Without Limits, Almost Famous, The Good Shepherd, Eat Pray Love, Alien: Covenant, Watchmen, The Morning Show, World Traveler, Charlotte Gray, Princess Mononoke, Rudderless, and The Elephant Man in this interview on his acting career. He recounts working with Robert De Niro and William H. Macy, learning to sing for roles, and gives advice for auditioning in this Q&A moderated by Mara Webster. This interview is part of the SAG-AFTRA Conversations series, an essential resource for actors, filmmakers and students of discussions with performers, exploring the process and profession of acting. Equally memorable on the stage and screen, Billy Crudup has earned critical accolades for his performances. Currently he stars as Corey Ellison in Apple’s Golden-Globe nominated The Morning Show alongside Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carrell, which earned him both Critics’ Choice Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. Recently, he starred in the film adaptation of Maria Semple’s novel, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, alongside Kristen Wiig and Cate Blanchett and in Bart Freundlich’s After the Wedding, alongside Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams. Previously, Crudup starred in Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant along with Michael Fassbender and Katherine Waterston and made his television debut in Netflix’s psychological thriller Gypsy opposite Naomi Watts. He appeared in Jackie opposite Natalie Portman; Zack Snyder’s Justice League, alongside Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot and Jason Mamoa; 20th Century Women alongside Annette Bening, Elle Fanning and Greta Gerwig; Spotlight, for which he won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture; the film also won the 2016 Academy Award® for Best Picture; Youth in Oregon, which debuted at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival; and IFC Films’ The Stanford Prison Experiment, which is based on the landmark experiment conducted at Stanford University in the summer of 1971. Crudup made his motion picture debut in Barry Levinson’s Sleepers, opposite Robert De Niro, Brad Pitt and Jason Patric, followed by Woody Allen’s Everyone Says I Love You, and Pat O’Connor’s Inventing the Abbotts. Crudup played the leading role in critically acclaimed Without Limits, the story of legendary long distance runner Steven Prefontaine, for which he won the National Board of Review Award for Breakthrough Performance of the Year. He then starred in the critically acclaimed Jesus’ Son opposite Samantha Morton, Holly Hunter and Denis Leary, which earned him an Independent Spirit Award nomination, and he reunited with Jennifer Connelly in the acclaimed Waking the Dead. Crudup also starred in Cameron Crowe’s Academy Award®-winning Almost Famous along with Frances McDormand and Kate Hudson. Crudup’s other film credits include: 1 Mile to You, based on Jeremy Jackson’s novel Life at These Speed;. Noah Buschel’s Glass Chin; William H. Macy’s directorial debut Rudderless; Guillaume Canet’s Blood Ties opposite Clive Owen; the box office hit Eat Pray Love starring alongside Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem, and James Franco; Michael Mann’s Public Enemies alongside Johnny Depp and Christian Bale; Zack Synder’s Watchmen opposite Patrick Wilson; Charlotte Gray opposite Cate Blanchett; Tim Burton’s fantasy tale, Big Fish, also starring Ewan McGregor, Helena Bonham Carter, and Albert Finney; Stage Beauty opposite Claire Danes; Trust the Man with Julianne Moore; J.J. Abrams’ Mission Impossible 3 opposite Tom Cruise; and Robert De Niro’s The Good Shepherd alongside Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie. 0:00 - Intro 0:18 - From Business to Acting 4:19 - Studying at NYU 11:22 - General College 16:54 - Sleepers (1996) 19:09 - Princess Mononoke (1997) 21:46 - Without Limits (1998) and Preparation Process 27:41 - Commercials, Voiceovers, and Opportunities 33:00 - Almost Famous (2000) 39:04 - Charlotte Gray (2001) 41:04 - World Traveler (2001) 42:41 - The Elephant Man 47:51 - Robert De Niro and The Good Shepherd (2006) 49:22 - Eat Pray Love (2002) 53:02 - William H Macy and Rudderless (2014) 58:52 - Alien: Covenant (2017) and Watchmen (2009) 1:06:05 - The Morning Show (2017) 1:14:21 - Learning to Sing 1:19:08 - Auditioning 1:23:55 - Alien: Covenant Audition 1:28:05 - Not Giving Your Best Performance