The Empire Podcast #650 (Live At Kings Place): Nick Frost, Harris Dickinson, Claes Bang, Joe Alwyn

Here it is, folks. At long last, the 650th episode (if you don't count all the other episodes) of the Empire Podcast, recorded live on Friday January 10th in front of a sell-out crowd at our spiritual home of Kings Place, London, is here! And like the cast list of a new Nolan movie, this one's got more stars than a sizeable constellation, with not one, not two, not three, but FOUR (!) brilliant filmy folk joining us on stage. First up, Chris sits down with Get Away writer/star, Nick Frost; then Beth chats with Babygirl star Harris Dickinson, who is now on his second live show appearance; thirdly, Alex Godfrey pops up to have a natter with William Tell star, Claes Bang (and we all get mildly distracted by his coat); and fourthly, Helen has a chinwag with Joe Alwyn, star of Brady Corbet's epic Oscars frontrunner The Brutalist. All the guests can be found in one super-long section between 49:56 and 2:08:14 approx.

Either side of the guestapalooza is a live and rowdy episode of the pod in which Chris Hewitt, Helen O'Hara, James Dyer, and Beth Webb get stuck into this week's movie (and, full disclosure, TV too) news, including Rory McCann replacing Ray Stevenson in Ahsoka Season 2, Colman Domingo joining Edgar Wright's The Running Man, Tom Holland getting his Grisham on, the seven-foot-two giant in the Reacher Season 3 trailer, and Paul Mescal dropping out of Sir Ridley Scott's Dog Stars. Plus the gang — Chris Hewitt, James Dyer, Helen O'Hara, Beth Webb, and Alex Godfrey that is — review A Real Pain, Babygirl, and Maria, and answer a bunch of questions from the audience. There will be singing. There will be plenty of film-related fun. There will be blood! (Disclaimer: There is no actual blood — just a former Dracula!)

As ever, thanks to everyone who made this evening possible, from the Kings Place team to our guests; thanks to you guys for coming and for continuing to support the pod; and thanks to cinema for being so gosh darn cinematic. Also, apologies for literally every joke, pun, and piece of innuendo delivered by Chris Hewitt — he is a law unto himself and cannot, shall not, and must not be stopped. Aside from that, as ever, please do enjoy.

You can listen to this week's episode (and over 600 more) on the pod app of your choice.