CNN and Variety have announced a new, expanded edition of the Emmy‑winning “Actors on Actors” franchise, unveiling 26 film stars who will appear in 13 conversations rolling out daily from December 5, 2025. The season is the first to be co‑produced with CNN, which will debut full episodes on its new streaming platform and linear channel before they arrive on Variety’s digital and social platforms.
What CNN and Variety revealed
The new season is branded “Variety & CNN Actors on Actors” and is officially the 23rd season of the long‑running interview series. It pairs major names from this year’s film slate in one‑on‑one conversations about performance, craft and awards‑season projects, continuing the franchise’s focus on unscripted, peer‑to‑peer dialogue rather than traditional press junket interviews.
Episodes will start rolling out on Friday, December 5, with one new conversation dropping each day for 13 consecutive days. Full installments premiere on CNN at 9 a.m. ET, then reappear at 3 p.m. ET on Variety’s YouTube channel, while a dedicated “Actors on Actors” print issue hits newsstands December 17. CNN will also push additional coverage across its platforms through an entertainment correspondent providing behind‑the‑scenes and context content around the series.
The 26 stars and pairings
CNN and Variety’s announcement confirms a 26‑person lineup carefully built around current film campaigns, prestige dramas and high‑profile studio releases. The named participants include Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Dwayne Johnson, Ariana Grande, Adam Sandler, Sean Penn, Brendan Fraser, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hugh Jackman, Cynthia Erivo, Colin Farrell, Kate Hudson, Oscar Isaac, Sydney Sweeney, Michael B. Jordan, Ethan Hawke, Jeremy Allen White, Teyana Taylor, Alexander Skarsgård, Stellan Skarsgård, Jesse Plemons, Jacob Elordi, Jonathan Bailey and David Corenswet.
The season is structured around 13 duos, each anchored to one or more buzzy films, including “Wicked: For Good,” “The Smashing Machine,” “Die My Love,” “One Battle After Another,” “After the Hunt,” “Song Sung Blue,” “Frankenstein,” “Hamnet,” and “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.”
Some of the standout pairs highlighted in the announcement and trade coverage include:
- Ariana Grande (“Wicked: For Good”) with Adam Sandler (“Jay Kelly”), opening the season on December 5.
- Julia Roberts (“After the Hunt”) with Sean Penn (“One Battle After Another”), a politically tinged prestige pairing.
- Dwayne Johnson (“The Smashing Machine”) with Brendan Fraser (“Rental Family”), a reunion echoing their earlier collaboration on “The Mummy Returns.”
- Cynthia Erivo (“Wicked: For Good”) with Hugh Jackman (“Song Sung Blue”), aligning two musical powerhouses in awards‑aimed roles.
- Sydney Sweeney (“Christy”) with Ethan Hawke (“Blue Moon”), mixing a Gen‑Z breakout with an established indie auteur favorite.
- Alexander Skarsgård (“Pillion”) with Stellan Skarsgård (“Sentimental Value”), turning a father‑son dynamic into on‑camera conversation.
- Kate Hudson (“Song Sung Blue”) with Jeremy Allen White (“Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere”), mirroring the wider awards buzz around music‑driven dramas and biographical stories.
- Oscar Isaac (“Frankenstein”) with Teyana Taylor (“One Battle After Another”), drawing together genre reinvention and politically inflected drama.
- Colin Farrell (“Ballad of a Small Player”) with Jessie Buckley (“Hamnet”), a cinephile‑friendly pairing of acclaimed character actors.
- Jennifer Lawrence (“Die My Love”) with Leonardo DiCaprio (“One Battle After Another”), positioned as a marquee, season‑ending conversation on December 17.
This mix underscores Variety and CNN’s intent to balance blockbuster visibility with awards‑season credibility, showcasing performers whose work stretches across musicals, biopics, intimate dramas and genre pieces.
Why the CNN partnership matters
For the first time, “Actors on Actors” is being co‑produced with CNN and will premiere on CNN’s new streaming platform before moving to Variety’s own channels. This extends the franchise beyond its traditional home on Variety’s site and YouTube into a global news brand’s ecosystem, giving CNN a prestige entertainment asset that fits its push toward “conversation‑driven” original programming.
From a business perspective, the rollout strategy—first on CNN’s app and TV, then on Variety’s YouTube and social—reflects a dual aim: driving subscription and engagement for CNN’s platform while preserving the viral clip culture that has long powered “Actors on Actors” on social media. The franchise arrives as CNN experiments with formats that sit between news and culture, and as Variety leans further into video as a driver of awards‑season influence and advertising.
Awards‑season positioning and narrative
The timing and casting firmly locate this season as an Oscars‑adjacent vehicle, highlighting performances that are already at the center of awards conversations. By pairing the leads of films like “Wicked: For Good,” “Die My Love,” “The Smashing Machine” and “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” the series effectively curates a long‑form campaign trail where actors can articulate themes, research and creative risks in their own words.
The daily release cadence from December 5 through December 17 ensures that fresh conversations land throughout the heart of critics’ voting, guild nominations and end‑of‑year list‑making. For studios and streamers behind these films, a high‑profile, CNN‑branded sit‑down with a strong social afterlife offers both awards‑season prestige and mainstream promotional reach.
How the lineup reflects today’s Hollywood
The chosen 26 names underscore several currents in contemporary Hollywood: the rise of pop stars as film leads (Ariana Grande, Teyana Taylor), wrestlers‑turned‑actors in prestige material (Dwayne Johnson), and TV‑to‑film crossovers like Jeremy Allen White and Sydney Sweeney. At the same time, the presence of veterans such as Roberts, DiCaprio, Lawrence, Penn, Paltrow, Fraser and Farrell signals a commitment to intergenerational conversation about how the industry and the craft have changed.
By folding in projects that range from franchise tentpoles to literary adaptations and experimental dramas, CNN and Variety are using “Actors on Actors” to map what counts as awards‑caliber cinema in 2025. The result is less a simple promotional tour and more a curated snapshot of the year’s most talked‑about performances, now amplified by the reach and news framing of CNN.
