32 Behind-The-Scenes Entertainment Features From 2015 That Deserve Another Look

BuzzFeed Entertainment talked to the people behind some of the biggest projects of the year (like Avengers: Age of Ultron, Empire, Furious 7, and Making a Murderer). Here's the best of those features, presented in the order of when it was published. Warning: SPOILERS ABOUND!

1. How The Faster Pace Of “Looking” Season 2 Changes The Show — Louis Peitzman

Richard Foreman / HBO

After a slow-burn first season, the San Francisco-set HBO comedy-drama became an even richer look at gay life. BuzzFeed News talked to the show’s actors and executive producer about the diversity issue, unlikable characters, and what to expect in Season 2.

2. The Movie That Features Unprecedented Full-Frontal Male Nudity — Kate Aurthur

The Orchard

“I feel bad for anyone that paid for the movie hoping for boobs,” The Overnight’s writer-director Patrick Brice told BuzzFeed News at the Sundance Film Festival.

3. One Of The Hottest Movies Of The Year Almost Didn’t Happen — Kelley L. Carter

David Moir / Open Road Films

Rick Famuyiwa, the director of Dope, talked to BuzzFeed News about how he rediscovered his voice and created his best film yet. “When you’re making films with people of color in them … each one has to almost speak for the entire race.”

4. The Fascinating Documentary You Won’t Be Able To Shake — Adam B. Vary

Crystal Moselle / Magnolia Pictures

The Wolfpack, about a family of brothers who rarely left their Manhattan apartment while growing up, was one of the biggest breakouts at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. It raises as many questions as it answers, as BuzzFeed News reported.

5. Inside TV’s Most Wonderfully Unique Gay Relationship — Jarett Wieselman

Cliff Lipson / Showtime

The dynamic between Ian Gallagher (Cameron Monaghan) and Mickey Milkovich (Noel Fisher) on Shameless remains one of the most touching, powerful, and atypical on television. The actors behind the groundbreaking characters and executive producer Etan Frankel talked to BuzzFeed News about the origins and staying power of “Gallavich.”

6. The Year’s Scariest Horror Movie Is The Stuff Of Actual Nightmares — Alison Willmore

RADiUS-TWC

It Follows, the second film from writer-director David Robert Mitchell, turns the traditional slasher trope of sex amounting to death into something that will forever haunt your nightmares. Mitchell told BuzzFeed News how he did it.

7. Inside “Empire,” The Most Talked-About Show On Television — Kelley L. Carter

Chuck Hodes / Fox

Creators Lee Daniels and Danny Strong and showrunner Ilene Chaiken talked to BuzzFeed News about being at the helm of network TV’s biggest success story in years, how they made it happen, and their hopes for Season 2 (Oprah Winfrey, Denzel Washington, and Spike Lee, to name a few).

8. 23 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About “Mad Men,” According To The Cast And Creator — Jaimie Etkin

Stephen Lovekin / Getty Images

Just before the debut of Mad Men’s final seven episodes, stars John Slattery (Roger Sterling), Jon Hamm (Don Draper), January Jones (Betty Francis), Christina Hendricks (Joan Holloway), and creator Matt Weiner gathered for a Film Society event at Lincoln Center in New York City. BuzzFeed News was there as they looked back on some of their favorite moments. (If you'd like to read more on Mad Men, here are all 90 episodes of the series, ranked by BuzzFeed News' Kate Aurthur.)

9. Behind The Emotional Ending Of “Furious 7” — Adam B. Vary

Scott Garfield / Universal Pictures

Director James Wan faced a lot of challenges finishing Furious 7 after Paul Walker died in an unrelated car accident, but sticking his film’s ending was, perhaps, the biggest. “We took a lot of care in crafting that last end sequence,” he told BuzzFeed News.

10. BET’s “Being Mary Jane” Has Started A TV Revolution — Kelley L. Carter

Daniel Mcfadden / BET

The cast, creator, and a network executive talked to BuzzFeed News about their revolutionary series about a perfectly imperfect single black woman.

11. Joss Whedon’s Astonishing, Spine-Tingling, Soul-Crushing Marvel Adventure! — Adam B. Vary

Marvel; Jay Maidment; Alice Mongkongllite / BuzzFeed

Even for a beloved and widely respected director living out his ultimate dream job at the helm of Avengers: Age of Ultron, it seems impossible to survive the Marvel Studios machine intact. Joss Whedon told BuzzFeed how he not only managed, but thrived.

12. Inside The Mind Behind The Most Disgusting Franchise Of All Time — Louis Peitzman

Six Entertainment Company

Dutch filmmaker Tom Six has returned with the third installment in his notorious Human Centipede series, and, as he explained to BuzzFeed News, he doesn’t care if you’re ready or not.

13. It’s The Beginning Of The End For “Pretty Little Liars” — Jarett Wieselman

ABC Family

During an exclusive visit to the set of ABC Family’s massive success story, BuzzFeed News learned everything you need to know about the last days of “A,” the show’s looming five-year time jump, and how they’re preparing for the end.

14. How The Director Of “Spy” And “Bridesmaids” Escaped Movie Jail And Conquered Hollywood — Adam B. Vary

Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images

Paul Feig talked candidly with BuzzFeed News about the many times he considered walking away from his career as an actor, writer, and director for good, and what kept bringing him back.

15. 51 TV Writers Reveal Their Favorite Thing They’ve Ever Written — Jarett Wieselman

NBC

The brains behind Parks and Recreation, Lost, Sex and the City, The X-Files, Empire, Pushing Daisies, and dozens of other beloved shows singled out the line, scene, twist, or episode that’s closest to their heart.

16. The Hollywood Sex Abuse Documentary That You Almost Couldn’t See — Adam B. Vary

Disarming Films

A year after an underage Hollywood sex abuse scandal dominated headlines, Amy Berg’s documentary about a pedophilia ring in the industry is finally making its way to theaters. But it was a maddeningly difficult road to get there, as BuzzFeed News reported.

17. Behind The Summer’s Most Provocative Sex Scene In "Tangerine" — Alison Willmore

Magnolia Pictures

“I wasn’t sure the ultimate effect it would have,” Tangerine director Sean Baker explained to BuzzFeed News.

18. Everything You Need To Know About The Best Show You’re Not Watching — Kate Aurthur

James Dittiger / Lifetime

Unreal’s star, Shiri Appleby, and its co-creator Sarah Gertrude Shapiro talked to BuzzFeed News about the show’s wild first season.

19. How A Show About A Depressed Horse Became Incredibly Human — Ariane Lange

Netflix

BoJack Horseman's creator and production designer talked to BuzzFeed News about their series’ sensibility, their wacky mutual trust, and whether characters have to be good to be likable.

20. 12 Things You Need To Know About The New “Wet Hot American Summer” Series — Jaimie Etkin

Saeed Adyani / Netflix

Director David Wain told BuzzFeed News everything fans wanted to know about the long-awaited Netflix series, and why this isn’t the end.

21. How “Straight Outta Compton” Assembled The Perfect Cast — Kelley L. Carter

Macey J. Foronda / BuzzFeed News

Director F. Gary Gray transformed a group of newbies to perfectly bring N.W.A’s story to the screen. They talked to BuzzFeed News about how it all came together.

22. Inside The Persistent Boys Club Of Animation — Ariane Lange

Monique Steele / BuzzFeed News

Women who have worked in animation for anywhere from a few years to six decades talked to BuzzFeed News about how things have gotten better — and how they haven’t.

23. Blowing Up “The Leftovers” — Kate Aurthur

Van Redin / HBO

Co-creator Damon Lindelof and star Justin Theroux talked to BuzzFeed News about the show’s second season — its move to Texas, diversifying the cast, and why it almost didn’t return.

24. The Long Journey To “Freeheld” — Kate Aurthur

Phil Caruso / Lionsgate

It took seven years to bring Freeheld — the true story of an embattled lesbian couple in New Jersey — to the screen. Ellen Page, Julianne Moore, director Peter Sollett, and the film’s other key players told BuzzFeed News how it finally happened.

25. How “The Martian” Went From A Best-Selling Novel To A Blockbuster Film — Adam B. Vary

20th Century Fox

Screenwriter Drew Goddard explained to BuzzFeed News how he transformed Andy Weir’s beloved book into the script for one of the biggest films of the fall.

26. Everything You Wanted To Know About “Project Greenlight” From Effie Brown — Jarett Wieselman

HBO

She’s produced dozens of independent films, but Brown was in uncharted waters when she took part in the fourth season of HBO’s moviemaking docuseries. After the Season 4 finale, she spoke with BuzzFeed News her relationship with Jason Mann today, and what’s next for “Effie T. Brown: Dream Killer.”

27. What It’s Like To Watch Shia LaBeouf Movies With Shia LaBeouf — Alison Willmore

Rönkkö & Turner

When the Transformers star marathoned his filmography in the name of art, BuzzFeed News stopped by to take a look.

28. The Most Beautiful Love Story You’ll See Onscreen This Year —Kate Aurthur

The Weinstein Compayny

Todd Haynes — the director of Carol, starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara — talked to BuzzFeed News about working with the actors, love stories, and the importance of preserving queer culture. Plus, here's more on the movie's ending.

29. How The “Hunger Games” Team Brought “Mockingjay – Part 2” From The Page To The Screen — Adam B. Vary

Murray Close / Lionsgate

Director Francis Lawrence, producer Nina Jacobson, and screenwriter Peter Craig spoke with BuzzFeed News about the hard choices they had to make adapting the final book in author Suzanne Collins’s best-selling franchise.

30. The Amazing, Touching Story Behind “Creed” — Kelley L. Carter

Warner Bros.

Director Ryan Coogler first fell in love with filmmaking while watching the Rocky franchise as a kid. Now, he's giving it new life — and a lot of feeling — with Creed. The 29-year-old tells BuzzFeed News how he channeled his family’s tragedy to make it happen…with Sylvester Stallone’s blessing.

31. The Latest Pixar Short Is Like Nothing You’ve Ever Seen Before — Alison Willmore

Disney/Pixar

Sanjay Patel, the director of the latest Pixar short, Sanjay’s Super Team, talked to BuzzFeed News about bringing something new and personal to the animation giant.

32. 12 Burning Questions About “Making A Murderer” Answered — Jarett Wieselman

Netflix

Filmmakers Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi took BuzzFeed News inside the year’s biggest true crime obsession.