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Today’s guests are actors Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody, who met as castmates in a stage play in 1978, and have been together ever since.
Over the past four or so decades, Patinkin has established himself as a major force on screen with indelible roles in movies like The Princess Bride, Yentl and Ragtime and shows such as Chicago Hope, Criminal Minds and Homeland, while he’s also had a hugely successful career as a musical performer on Broadway.
Grody had a supporting role in Warren Beatty’s Reds and played one of the title characters opposite Diane Keaton and Carol Kane in Joyce Chopra’s 1990 comedy drama The Lemon Sisters, and also wrote and starred in the one-woman play A Mom’s Life, an autobiographical portrait of the trials and tribulations of motherhood, developed from her book of the same name.
While Patinkin has primarily enjoyed most of the spotlight over the course of their relationship, that changed in 2020, when Grody and Patinkin’s son Gideon began filming his parents during lockdown and posting the videos to TikTok.
Quickly, the internet fell in love with the pair as they danced, bickered, cuddled, struggled with questions on pop culture, and encouraged people to go vote in the presidential election. They were irrepressible, unfiltered, hilarious, adorable and deeply relatable, and they rapidly built a following in the millions.
The reason I got to speak with them recently is that the Mandy and Kathryn cinematic universe has now expanded beyond TikTok with Seasoned, which delivers a lightly fictionalized version of their real-life relationship in episodic form.
The show’s pilot, which just premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival (and has its final screening this Sunday), joins them as they spend their wedding anniversary navigating a terrible play, endlessly talkative thespians, a missed dinner reservation, and the hell of finding somewhere – anywhere! – to eat on a frantically busy New York City night.
Before talking to Grody and Patinkin, I was honestly a little nervous. They always seem utterly delightful, but the numerous questions that I draw on for this podcast were designed to be for one-on-one conversations, so would they work as well for two people?
Also, would we be able to get Mandy and Kathryn each set up with a pair of headphones so the audio would be pristine?
Well, the answer to that second question was no – and you hear the three of us trying to trouble-shoot that issue right at the start! But really, that became immaterial as soon as we started talking, as I instantly realized this was an experience I could truly just sit back and enjoy.
Usually, I tease what’s to come in these episodes, but in this instance, I’m going to forego that and just let you luxuriate in the pure pleasure of listening to Kathryn Grody and Mandy Patinkin doing their thing, with all the wonderful immediacy and unpredictability that entails! — N.D.
This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range.
