Mayim Bialik opens up about how the death of her father inspired her debut film

Mayim Bialik, second from right, with the cast of "As They Made Us". From left: Simon Helberg, Candice Bergen, Dustin Hoffman, Bialik and Dianna Agron. (Photo courtesy of Quiver Distribution)

Subscribe to (opens a new window)

After Mayim Bialik lost her father, she began a year of mourning, culminating in thoughts and feelings that she’d end up culminating into her first screenplay. The actress, best known for the The Big Bang Theory and now hosting Jeopardy!, is now making her debut as a writer and director with As They Made Us, a drama about a dying father, played by Dustin Hoffman. For this week’s episode of our Bonjour Chai podcast, host Ilana Zackon sits down with Bialik to talk about her real-life inspiration, transitioning from performer to director, and how she incorporated subtly accurate pieces of Jewish representation that didn’t feel blunt or crass.

Plus, we’re re-running an interview from last Passover with Orel Gozlan, the hazzan at Congregation Or Shalom in Montreal and an Instagram comic, about the Sephardic celebration Mimouna.

What we talked about

Credits

Bonjour Chai is hosted by Avi Finegold, Ilana Zackon and David Sklar. Michael Fraiman is the producer. Andre Goulet is the technical producer. Our theme music is by Socalled. The show is a co-production from The Jewish Learning Lab and The CJN, and is distributed by The CJN Podcast Network. To learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.