INSIDE THE ACTOR’S STUDIO QUESTIONNAIRE

LISTENING COMPREHENSION AND TRANSCRIPTION

You’re going to listen to a portion of the award-winning program Inside the Actor’s Studio, hosted by James Lipton. At the end of every interview, Lipton asks a series of questions prepared by by French television personality Bernard Pivot.

  • Listen to the entire question-answer session with actor Matt Damon and try to see if you can understand the questions (don’t worry about the answers yet!).

  • Try to write down the questions Lipton asks.

  • After, you will hear only the questions again. Make any changes to your original transcription, if needed.

  • And the third time, you will hear the questions and see them subtitled below.

The TRANSCRIPTION to the interview and the individual 10 questions are way down at the bottom so you don’t see them easily!

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What is your least favorite word?

“Cunt”

What is your favorite word?

“Cunt. There is just something about the way you say it with that accent.”

What turns you on?

People who are curious, you know, intellectually curious, creatively curious. Like Robert de Niro.” 

What turns you off?

“People who aren't intellectually curious or creatively curious, like our president.”

What sound or noise do you love?

“I know this is a popular one, but it's absolutely true. It's my daughter's laughing. My daughter's laugh.”

What sound or noise do you hate?

“Screeching tires. That horrible second right as you hear the tires screeching. You're waiting for an impact.”

This will seem redundant, but what is your favorite curse word?

“The most versatile one is ‘fuck’, because we use it in Boston in all different ways. We use it as a bridge between thoughts. I mean, when you're sitting there and you go, ‘fucking…oh, I know what I was going to tell you.’"

What profession other than your own would you like to try?

“I'd like to be a director.”

What profession would you absolutely not like to try?

“There was a job in the French court, and it was apparently a pretty good job, but you wiped the King's ass. But you had to be a person of some regard to do this. And the king had to trust you obviously. But still, that's not a job I would like to have.”

Finally, if heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

“That all of the suffering that you saw or heard about or knew was happening, that there was a point to it. Come in the back, I'll tell you all about it.”

10 QUESTIONS FROM THE QUESTIONNAIRE

  1. What is your favorite word?

  2. What is your least favorite word?

  3. What turns you on?

  4. What turns you off?

  5. What sound or noise do you love?

  6. What sound or noise do you hate?

  7. What is your favorite curse word?

  8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

  9. What profession would you not like to do?

  10. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?