Support for LAist comes from
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Stay Connected
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Listen
Podcasts The Frame
The untrained actress who steals the show in 'Roma'
solid pale red banner
()
Episode 19171
Listen 27:03
The untrained actress who steals the show in 'Roma'

Yalitza Aparicio went from being a fledgling school teacher to playing a pivotal role in Alfonso Cuarón's "Roma"; the New York Times reports that a faded talent agent and an actress client of his could ruin Les Moonves' chance of receiving any severance from CBS; this season's crop of new Christmas music has a little bit of everything.

Director Alfonso Cuarón on the set of "Roma" with Yalitza Aparicio, the school teacher he chose to play a key role in his childhood memoir.
Director Alfonso Cuarón on the set of "Roma" with Yalitza Aparicio, the school teacher he chose to play a key role in his childhood memoir.
()

On today's show:

No acting experience? No problem

(Starts at 8:35)

Yalitza Aparicio had just gotten her teaching degree when her sister convinced her to audition for a movie, even though she had never done any acting of any kind. Also auditioning was Marina de Tavira, an accomplished actress in Mexican cinema. But for de Tavira, the audition of this unnamed movie was unlike any she'd ever had. Instead of reading lines or talking about the part, she was asked about her life, her childhood, her family. Over months, both women went through a semi-mysterious process — at first not even knowing who the filmmaker was — before they were ultimately cast as the leads in Alfonso Cuarón's cinematic memoir, "Roma." John Horn talks with Aparicio and de Tavira about the making of "Roma."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BS27ngZtxg

The tipping point for Les Moonves?

(Starts at 1:00)

James Stewart of the New York Times details how a down-on-his-luck talent agent and an actress client of his could ruin Les Moonves' chance of receiving any severance from CBS.

New Holiday tunes — the good, the bad and the Ugly

(Starts at 20:00)

L.A. Times pop music writer Randy Lewis runs through his round-up of new Christmas music — everything from Martina McBride to The Monkees to William Shatner!