Exclusive Interview: Emory Cohen Talks Big Gold Brick, Venturing into Comedy, & More

Emory Cohen is one of Hollywood’s most sought-after leading men. He’s starred in projects including The Place Beyond the Pines, Smash, Hot Summer Nights, Brooklyn, and The OA. Currently, he can be seen in the comedy, Big Gold Brick.

Big Gold Brick recounts the story of fledgling writer Samuel Liston and his experiences with Floyd Deveraux, the enigmatic middle-aged father of two who enlists Samuel to write his biography. But the circumstances that lead up to this arrangement in the first place are quite astonishing — and efforts to write the biography are quickly stymied by ensuing chaos in this darkly comedic, genre-bending film.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Emory about Big Gold Brick, his first venture into comedy, and more.

PC: Tell us about Big Gold Brick and your character in the film.
Emory: Big Gold Brick is a comedy. It’s the most comedic thing that I’ve ever done. My character Samuel is a young man who claims to be a writer. I don’t know how much writing he is actually doing. He has a bad night and gets hit by a car driven by Floyd, the character played by Andy Garcia. Then Floyd asks him to write his biography. [laughs] As one does. My character writes his biography.

They spark a friendship and a mentorship. Samuel really learns who he is and the kind of person and writer that he wants to be in the world. He discovers that through Floyd and through being forced to write and explore his talent and voice in a more in-depth way than he had been doing alone in his tiny little apartment.

PC: You’ve done it all throughout your career. What was it about this particular script and character that stood out to you?
Emory: A lot of it was writer-director Brian Petsos. It was watching his film Ticky and Tacky. Through Oscar Isaac’s performance in that film, I understood how broad the canvas was that I was being invited to paint on. It was my first true comedy. As soon as I met Brian, I was like, “He has an incredible cinematic mind, an incredible artistic point of view. It would be a mistake on my part to not take the opportunity to work with him. He’s going to be a really important filmmaker for years to come.”

PC: At the center of the story is this friendship and mentorship between Samuel and Floyd. How did you and Andy approach the dynamic between your two characters? What was that collaboration like?
Emory: Andy’s great. He’s really fun, sweet, and easy to work with. I didn’t have to go searching too far to find the Samuel/Floyd relationship. A lot of it came from hanging out with him and having these amazing moments. There are so many great big actors in this movie, but we were still making an independent film with no massive trailers to go back to.

I remember one day we were shooting in a library. Andy and I were just talking about sports. It was one of those “pinch me” moments. I was sitting in a Toronto library with Andy Garcia talking about sports because we were making a feature film together. It was an awesome experience working with him. He’s a great guy. One of the greatest actors of all time.

PC: You were saying earlier that this is your first true comedy. Did anything surprise you about the experience? What was the biggest takeaway that you’ll bring to the next project?
Emory: I saw the character as a slapstick, physical, comedic part. I was really influenced by Chris Barley’s work in everything that he’s done. You get to stretch different muscles. It was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun for the end objective of each scene to make your friends, Brian, and the people you’re working with laugh. I remember Brian came up to me on day four of shooting and he was like, “You’re playing this character a lot more comedic than I thought you would.”

I was like, “Is it okay? Is that okay?” He was like, “Yeah, it’s great.” I was like, “That’s what I wanted to do.” A lot of that experience reminded me of being a kid when you’re in the park with your friends and one has lasers coming out of his eyes and another one has a shield to block the lasers. Then another one’s like they’re melting with lava, but if they open their mouth, the lava can get onto you. There was a lot of that. I felt like being a kid playing in that playground. I love that sensation.

PC: You’re known for the dramatic roles that you’ve brought to life on the screen. For you as an actor, is drama or comedy more challenging?
Emory: Before Big Gold Brick, comedy seemed really challenging and scary. I think having gotten through a comedic piece, it feels less scary, a bit more accessible. Drama is hard. Drama is hard because you can’t take yourself too seriously no matter what genre you’re doing. We’re still playing make-believe. We’re playing make-believe and it’s absurd. [laughs] It’s really exciting, but we’re playing dress-up. You can’t get too in your head.

What I like about comedy is that from the get-go, it gives you the permission to laugh and be silly. We should be laughing and acting silly. I know that companies put up a lot of money for us to do what we do, but the essence of what I am doing is playing. I’m like a child in the sandbox, even when I work on a drama.

PC: With the film coming out now, what do you hope audiences take away after they see it and what’s next for you?
Emory: It’s been a hard couple of years for all of us. It’s been a really scary, strange time. We’ve been saying that this movie is a comedy. I hope they can have some laughs.

As far as what’s next, I just finished a television series from Netflix called Florida Man, where I get to play a really fun character. It’s kind of another comedic character. I’m not sure that that show is strictly a comedy—it touches on a lot of different genres—but my character was very comedic, silly, and also quite aggressive at times. I had a great time shooting that.

Watch Big Gold Brick in theaters and on digital today.

Photo Credit: Samuel Goldwyn Films