Fresh Air Weekend: Melissa McCarthy; Actor/Director Paul Dano

Fresh Air Weekend highlights some of the best interviews and reviews from past weeks, and new program elements specially paced for weekends. Our weekend show emphasizes interviews with writers, filmmakers, actors and musicians, and often includes excerpts from live in-studio concerts. This week:

'Pleasant' Doesn't Interest Melissa McCarthy: 'Who Wants To Watch That?': McCarthy likes to take on "three-dimensional, flawed" characters. Otherwise, she says, "there's nothing to sink your teeth into." She stars as a caustic literary forger in Can You Ever Forgive Me?

'Amarcord Nino Rota' Returns — And It's Well Worth The Wait: A just-reissued album, from 1981, features diverse musicians playing songs that Nino Rota composed for Federico Fellini movies. Critic Kevin Whitehead calls it a charming album that's long overdue.

Paul Dano On 'Wildlife,' And The Different Anxieties Of Acting And Directing: The Love & Mercy star steps behind the camera for Wildlife, an adaptation of Richard Ford's novel about a boy whose parents are separating. The film was informed by Dano's parents' relationship.

You can listen to the original interviews here:

'Pleasant' Doesn't Interest Melissa McCarthy: 'Who Wants To Watch That?'

'Amarcord Nino Rota' Returns — And It's Well Worth The Wait

Paul Dano On 'Wildlife,' And The Different Anxieties Of Acting And Directing

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