Ben Barna

Brooklyn

Executive Editor at Interview Magazine

Executive Editor @InterviewMag

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Articles

Jason Schwartzman and Kieran Culkin Geek Out on the "Succession" Extended Universe

1 week ago | interviewmagazine.com | Ben Barna

Among the many actors who made guest appearances during Succession‘s four-season run, it wouldn’t have been a stretch to picture Jason Schwartzman showing up as a neurotic tech mogul, hiding his insecurities behind his riches. So when the 44-year-old turns up as a version of that guy in Mountainhead—Succession creator Jesse Armstrong’s new HBO movie—it feels less like a surprise than an inevitability.
ThisBowl Will Change Your Life, if You Let It.

1 week ago | interviewmagazine.com | Ben Barna

Welcome to Cooked, a brand-new column where we’ve enlisted J Lee to assess the state of dining in New York City and beyond. A longtime connoisseur of all things food and bev, Lee has worked in the industry for almost two decades, and joins Interview as our newly minted food editor. In this second installment, he makes a visit to ThisBowl, the trendy, health-conscious Australian chain restaurant that recently opened downtown.
Meet Aaron Fisher, the Viral Protester Mistaken for a Movie Star

2 weeks ago | interviewmagazine.com | Ben Barna

When a video of a man delivering a stirring speech directly to the National Guard during the L.A. protests went viral, the internet did what it does best: got it wrong. Social media quickly misidentified him as Thunderbolts* star Wyatt Russell and flooded the clip with praise. In reality, the speaker was Aaron Fisher, a 35-year-old political strategist and partner at a firm that helps elect Democrats nationwide.
Shrimp, Speed, and Scott Stapp: My VIP Weekend at the Indy 500

4 weeks ago | interviewmagazine.com | Ben Barna

Our Executive Editor Ben Barna heads to Indianapolis with TAG Heuer for the 109th running of the Indy 500, also known as the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” By the end of the weekend, he found that hard to argue with. ———3:00 PMI arrive at The Alexander hotel in downtown Indianapolis and follow the TAG Heuer signs to their race-weekend lounge. It’s the first of many TAG logos I’ll be seeing this weekend. They have this on lock.
"Black Mirror" Creator Charlie Brooker on Drones, Rabbit Holes, and Broligarchy

2 months ago | interviewmagazine.com | Ben Barna

Black Mirror creator and professional pessimist Charlie Brooker has turned our collective anxieties into prestige television, conjuring dystopian futures that always feel just a few doom-scrolls away. Through his hit Netflix show, which released its seventh season earlier this month, the former journalist and cartoonist has skewered everything from surveillance states to social media apps—A Twilight Zone for our tech-addled nightmare.
Tayme Thapthimthong Looks Back on His "White Lotus" Fever Dream

2 months ago | interviewmagazine.com | Ben Barna |Jake Nevins

The White Lotus isn’t known for giving viewers characters they can root for, but Tayme Thapthimthong’s hopelessly smitten security guard Gaitok is an exception. In the HBO show’s third season, which ends this Sunday, the Thai-British newcomer plays the unassuming and smiley Gaitok with a vulnerability and charm that he based on the real-life hotel guards he observed growing up in Thailand while holding his own opposite seasoned actors and global pop royalty.
Dan Stevens Tells Jean Smart How He Became the Reluctant Leading Man

Mar 28, 2025 | interviewmagazine.com | Jean Smart |Ben Barna

Following his breakout as a brooding aristocrat in Downton Abbey, Dan Stevens could have gone the leading man route. Instead, he has become one of the most quietly shape-shifting actors we have. Whether he’s a manic mutant in Legion, or a Tucker Carlson-esque media manipulator in the Netflix political thriller Zero Day, Stevens approaches each role with a careful abandon and refreshing lack of vanity rarely seen from actors of his statute.
Graydon Carter on Guest Lists, Dress Codes, and Meghan Markle

Mar 27, 2025 | interviewmagazine.com | Ben Barna

Publishing overlord and celebrity ringmaster Graydon Carter can’t sit still. As cofounder of Spy, longtime Vanity Fair editor, and creator of Air Mail, he’s shaped journalism, Hollywood, and high society while curating hotspots like the Waverly Inn and Monkey Bar. As he readies his memoir When the Going Was Good, Carter shares his gut reactions to today’s most pressing matters.
“I’m Probably Clinically Insane”: Meet Tramell Tillman, the Man Behind Severance’s Mr. Milchick

Mar 21, 2025 | interviewmagazine.com | Ben Barna

Tramell Tillman spent years bouncing between office jobs before making the switch to acting, a career shift that ultimately led the 39-year-old D.C. native to one of the most unsettling roles on television. As Mr. Milchick, the turtlenecked supervisor on Severance, Tillman delivers a performance so tightly wound that it will trigger anyone who’s ever held down a corporate gig. To get to know him better, we asked him to fill out a questionnaire about what exactly it is that he does all day.
Marianne Jean-Baptiste on Hard Truths, Oscar Snubs, and Industry Politics

Feb 13, 2025 | interviewmagazine.com | Ben Barna

Marianne Jean-Baptiste has been delivering masterful performances for decades, but Hard Truths might be her career pinnacle. She first worked with director Mike Leigh in the 1996 drama Secrets & Lies, and in his latest film, she plays Pansy, a British woman so wound up with fear, anger, and exhaustion that some audience members have found her unbearable—which, as Jean-Baptiste sees it, is part of the point.