EP 258: Steve Buscemi, Armando Ianucci, & Andrea Riseborough on The Death of Stalin

The cast and creator of THE DEATH OF STALIN talk about mining one of Russia’s darkest chapters for comedy and some of absurd but true stories that make into THE DEATH OF STALIN. Writer/director Armando Ianucci (VEEP, THE THICK OF IT) talks about how fighting ruthless authoritarians is a family tradition for him, why Russian officials think his movie is part of a western plot destabilize that country, and why the creator of VEEP is finally ready to give politics a break for a while.

Steve Buscemi (BOARDWALK EMPIRE, RESERVOIR DOGS, FARGO) discusses playing Nikita Kruschev in THE DEATH OF STALIN, his early career in standup comedy, how he says Stalin’s inner circle was more like The Three Stooges, and why his old AOL account is the best insurance against Russia hackers. Andrea Riseborough (BIRDMAN, OBLIVION)who portrays Svetlana Stalina talks about the illusive relationship between the ruthless dictator and his daughter and some of her favorite British comedies.

THE DEATH OF STALIN opens in theaters on Friday, March 9. For more information, visit www.DeathOfStalin.co.uk or www.ifcfilms.com. Today’s podcast was sponsored by Grasshopper, ZQuiet, Hulu's The Looming Tower, Google Cloud Platform Podcast, and the VMWare Executive Perspective Podcast.