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Variety‘s “Actors on Actors” has received two Daytime Emmy nominations this year, both in the outstanding arts and popular culture program category.
That includes a nod for series’ spring 2025 run, which was geared toward
the TV awards season and ran on PBS SoCal as “Variety Studio: Actors on Actors.” The show then moved to CNN’s streaming platform for its film-centric fall 2025 edition, “Variety & CNN Actors on Actors,” which received the other nomination.
As Variety‘s signature video series, “Actors on Actors” pairs thesps for candid conversations about their recent projects and insights into the entertainment industry. This reps the fourth consecutive year “Actors on Actors” has been nominated in the category (having also been nominated in 2023, 2024 and 2025), and the series’ fifth and sixth Daytime Emmy nomination over all.
“Actors on Actors” previously won the Daytime Emmy in 2019, in the outstanding special class series category. This year, the series’ two nominations will compete against “Beyond the Gates: Welcome to the Neighborhood,” an “Entertainment Tonight” special from CBS Media Ventures, as well as “Off Script With the Hollywood Reporter” (produced with IFC) and “Working in the Theatre” from AmericanTheatreWing.org.
“Actors on Actors” first premiered in 2014. Over the years, in addition to its Daytime Emmy victory, the franchise has won a Los Angeles Area Emmy Award (in 2016, for entertainment programming), two Cine Golden Eagle Awards, several Webby Awards and Telly Awards.
The fall 2025, Season 23, of “Actors on Actors” repped the first edition under a collaboration between CNN and Variety, with new episodes debuting exclusively for subscribers of CNN’s streaming offering before premiering across Variety’s digital platforms.
Season 23 participants included Ariana Grande (“Wicked: For Good”) and Adam Sandler (“Jay Kelly”); Julia Roberts (“After the Hunt”) and Sean Penn (“One Battle After Another”); Jonathan Bailey (“Wicked: For Good,” “Jurassic World Rebirth”) and David Corenswet (“Superman”); Dwayne Johnson (“The Smashing Machine”) and Brendan Fraser (“Rental Family”); Gwyneth Paltrow (“Marty Supreme”) and Jacob Elordi (“Frankenstein”); and Cynthia Erivo (“Wicked: For Good”) and Hugh Jackman (“Song Sung Blue”).
Also: Sydney Sweeney (“Christy”) and Ethan Hawke (“Blue Moon”); Stellan Skarsgård (“Sentimental Value”) and Alexander Skarsgård (“Pillion”); Michael B. Jordan (“Sinners”) and Jesse Plemons (“Bugonia”); Kate Hudson (“Song Sung Blue”) and Jeremy Allen White (“Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere”); Oscar Isaac (“Frankenstein”) and Teyana Taylor (“One Battle After Another”); Colin Farrell (“Ballad of a Small Player”) and Jessie Buckley (“Hamnet”); and Jennifer Lawrence (“Die My Love”) and Leonardo DiCaprio (“One Battle After Another”).
Season 23 of Actors on Actors was executive produced by co-editor in chief and co-president Ramin Setoodeh and associate publisher Donna Pennestri for Variety, along with Amy Entelis and Roxanna Sherwood for CNN Originals.
As for Season 22, pairings included Colin Farrell (“The Penguin”) and Danny DeVito (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “Abbott Elementary”); Arnold Schwarzenegger (“Secret Level”) and Patrick Schwarzenegger (“The White Lotus”); Dave Chappelle (“Saturday Night Live”) and Mo Amer (“Mo”); Seth Rogen (“The Studio”) and Jason Segel (“Shrinking”); Parker Posey (“The White Lotus”) and Lisa Kudrow (“No Good Deed”); and Cooper Koch (“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”) and Sam Nivola (“The White Lotus”).
Also: Sterling K. Brown (“Paradise”) and Natasha Rothwell (“The White Lotus,” “How to Die Alone”); Amanda Seyfried (“Long Bright River”) and Adam Brody (“Nobody Wants This”); Javier Bardem (“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”) and Diego Luna (“Andor,” “La Máquina”); Joe Locke (“Agatha All Along,” “Heartstopper”) and Charlie Cox (“Daredevil: Born Again”); Kate Hudson (“Running Point”) and Kathryn Hahn (“Agatha All Along,” “The Studio”); Keri Russell (“The Diplomat”) and Scott Speedman (“Teacup,” “Grey’s Anatomy”); Adam Scott (“Severance”) and Kristen Bell (“Nobody Wants This”); and Kathy Bates (“Matlock”) and Billy Bob Thornton (“Landman”).
Executive producers for “Actors on Actors” Season 22 included Setoodeh, Pennestri, Michelle Merker and Andrew Russell. Michelle Sobrino-Stearns was executive-in-charge-of-production. Producers included Maris Berzins, Georg Kallert, Diana Nguyen and Rob Schroeder.
The 53nd Daytime Emmys Awards will take place on Friday, Oct. 30, in Los Angeles.
