When Ellen Barkin was studying at Manhattan’s High School of Performing Arts, the aspiring actress’s teachers thought she lacked the talent (and the looks) to succeed onstage. This slight drove Barkin to prove the skeptics wrong. After appearing in several Off Broadway plays, she broke into the mainstream in 1982 with Diner, which kick-started a prodigious career in films such as The Big Easy and Sea of Love, as well as on television and Broadway. On this week’s episode of Table for Two, the Tony Award–winning actress sits down with host Bruce Bozzi and dives into her early years as a waitress in New York City, the lessons she learned from Robert Duvall, and why The Normal Heart was the most important professional experience of her career. Hear a preview of the episode below, and listen and subscribe on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Episode 32: Ellen Barkin

Listen to a clip below, and to the full episode on iHeart or Apple Podcasts