CynbytheSea Interview
with Marc Cohen
The members of CynbytheSea want to thank you
for time well spent. It was a pleasure to interview
you and we'll certainly be looking for you on the
big screen in the future,
take care our Friend...
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1.) Is there any role through out your
career that you plan to do? And Why?
MARC: There is a composer whose life I would like
to adapt to the screen. He was an American who spent most of his career abroad during the surrealist movement in music. He finished his life in LA composing for Hollywood. But I've already said too much.
2.) What was it like to work with
Samuel L. Jackson himself
MARC:Though I never had any scenes with him.
I found him to humble, gracious and a consummate professional.
3.) Can you tell us about how you ended
up with a role on La Femme Nikita?
MARC:The usual route. Got the call for the audition, went in and booked it. Also, the director and I had worked together on Straight Up. That always helps.
Thank you,
Deb Schwartz ~ Michigan, USA
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4.) What other character would you have liked
to play in LFN?
MARC: I would had loved to play an under cover operative. Lots of gadgets, costumes, very Mission Impossible.
5.) Was acting your first choice as a career?
Which would be your second choice?
MARC: My first passion was visual arts.
Funny story. I wanted to attend a Performing Arts School. So I auditioned for the Visual Arts Program, my father asked me to audition for the theatre department as well. I was accepted for theatre and not Visual Arts. Father knows best. I have also directed theatre, which I love and I continue to write.
But as far as a second choice - directing.
6.) Which would be your dream role?
With whom would you like to play it?
MARC:Dream role?.... Popeye Doyle in the
French Connection with David Fincher directing.
Claudia Conde ~ Buenos Aires, Argentina
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7.) What are your hobbies and what are
your other jobs apart from acting?
MARC: Hobbies - photography, snowboarding, traveling, life, love, art and the pursuit of happiness
Other than acting everything else is just filler.
Warren Stewart ~ Perth, Australia
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8.) There is little biographical information
on you, can you fill us in with your upbringing?
MARC: I was born and raised in downtown Toronto. Spent my formative years at a high school for the Performing Arts. Attended Ryerson University for Media Arts. Booked my first series at nineteen and haven't looked back. I've been living in Los Angeles
for five years.
9.) If you were a college student instead
of an actor, what would you be studying?
MARC:Cultural Studies, Film Theory, Art History, Quantum Physics, Photography and Spanish.
10.) What are the details of your audition
for La Femme Nikita?
What did you have to rehearse?
MARC: It was a scene that never made it to the final cut of the episode. I meet JB (Nikita) in the woods after we almost crash her helicopter. It was a cool scene. I was leading a team of armed guards to escort her to our hideout.
11.) Peta Wilson kissed you as Nikita with
"poison lips", honestly, how many takes
was it before perfection?
MARC: Quite a few. I was twenty when we shot that. Peta is a striking woman. Tall, slender and intimidating. I was very nervous. The entire crew was around us and it was nerve racking.
And was there any laughing or cutting up in between?
MARC:
Originally after she knocks me out she puts a cyanide pill in my mouth. On the first rehearsal she put the pill in her mouth and then slipped into mine with her tongue. Everyone started laughing. Because although it was sexy, we would both be dead.
12.) Were there any bloopers during
the scenes you had on La Femme Nikita?
MARC: A few. Most of them had to do with props
not working. All the gadgets and tech we had was always bugging out. Also, Jerry Ciccoritti, who directed the episode loves to do long elaborate camera takes. So there were often quite a few marks to hit in
a scene. Inevitably, someone would miss the mark,
and then it's a domino effect. Bumping into each other, the camera, the lights. Not to mention we were shooting in a sewage plant, which was very cramped quarters.
Cynthia Wilkerson ~ Texas, USA
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13.) Has acting in La Femme Nikita had any
influence in your career?
MARC: When people see my resume it's often one of the first things they recognize. Half Baked would be my claim to fame thus far though. Everyone knows that film for some reason.
Did you have more recognition afterwards?
MARC: Not really. Canada is a strange place to work as an actor. Whatever job you get, is just a job.
It doesn't really mean your next job is guaranteed.
We really don't have a star system, so it's hard.
14.) In the film "The Girl Next Door"
you worked with Alberta Watson,
How was the reunion in the series?
MARC: Alberta and I unfortunately never shared any scenes together in either project. I never did get to meet her. Sad.
15.) You have worked along with
Samuel L. Jackson, Geena Davis
( The Long Kiss Goodnight) and with
Edward James Olmos , what can you tell
us about your experience, something memorable?
MARC:Edward James Olmos is by far my favorite experience. Shooting Gossip was a very memorable time for me. Working with Kate Hudson, James Marsden, Eric Bogosian, and Davis Guggenheim (director). I was Edward's sidekick in that film and we worked together for two weeks, he was so kind, I learnt a lot from him. Tremendous respect!
Sadly a lot of what we did never made the final cut.
16.) Is there any fun story you can share
with us, from when you were filming Straight Up.
Was that the first time you had a leading role?
MARC:That was my first leading role. It was also one of my first auditions. The call back was awful, I blew it. I was about to leave and remembered it was my sisters Birthday. I asked the producers if I could borrow their phone. When I finished talking to my sister they were all staring at me. I looked back at them and asked "What?" They said that's the guy, that's the part. I got the job for basically just being me, not acting the part or forcing anything. That was one of my first lessons in my approach to my work.
Shooting Straight Up was a once in a lifetime thing. We would just grab the camera, head out into downtown Toronto and shoot. It was so free.
Ana Marķa ~ Argentina
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17.) Are there any special memories you have
from filming La Femme Nikita?
MARC: The community of people working on that show. It was a great place to go to work for a few weeks.
18.) What was the chemistry like between you,
Julian Richings, and Ingrid Veninger,
your Glass Curtain colleagues?
MARC: Ingrid and I had worked and studied together prior to Nikita. She's a great actress to work with.
So our chemistry was great. Julian was an actor I truly admired. Ha takes risks and always makes interesting choices. Our relationship on screen and off was very similar.
19.) Do you prefer working for television
or for the cinema?
MARC: Television is a wonderful medium.
There is some great work being done on TV right know. Thanks to HBO, FX and even some of the networks. Cinema is of course the Holy Grail.
I love film, as a medium and an art form. And with digital technology it is becoming so accessible.
But the most rewarding work is still theatre for me. There is nothing like it. You get to take a journey.
There is no cutting, no stopping, it's the closest thing
to living truthfully that an actor can get.
Dana Vrajitoru ~ Indiana, USA
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20.) As well as on LFN you also got to work
with Matthew Ferguson in "The Long Kiss Goodnight". What did you think about the fact that even though
he had to learn an Irish accent as well
as learning his role, the actual kiss scene
between Ms. Davis and Mr. Ferguson was edited
out of the final cut of the film?
MARC: Matthew and I never met while shooting the Long Kiss Goodnight. I didn't know he got to kiss her! Lucky bastard.
21.) Since you and Matthew Ferguson worked
on the same projects a couple of times now,
have you stayed in touch with each other
or with any of the other LFN cast?
MARC: Unfortunately no. We share some mutual friends, but I don't know what he's up to.
22.) In what ways, if any, did your life change
when you became an actor?
MARC: I have always tried to live my life fully,
and day to day. So acting really fits my lifestyle well.
23.) I loved your line where you got to say
to "Nikita" (Ms. Wilson)
"What does JB stand for, juicy bod?"
Was it fun to play the role of such
a cheeky young guy like "Hester"?
MARC: It was very fulfilling. Especially thanks to Jerry, he is an actors director, and he really lets you explore the scene. A lot of what we did wasn't scripted,
we would come up with it on the day.
24.) Have the types of roles you are offered,
changed in some way over the years?
MARC:Yes, dramatically. Around the time I was doing Nkita, most of the work I did was the angry, cocky guy. I've finally reached an age where I'm getting to read for the more mature characters. This is the work I've been looking forward to doing. The next couple of years are going to be exciting.
25.) What have been the best and worst things
you have had to do in your acting career so far?
MARC: The best would be two episodes of
Straight Up - Big Time and Pudding.
Also a movie of the week I did called
Deadly Appearances with Wendy Crewson and
Victor Garber. Those are my favorite pieces of work. The worst.... getting most of my work cut out of Gossip. Hollywood can be brutal.
26.) Have you ever taken on a role that was more
difficult than you thought it would be?
If so what was the role and how did you
get through it in the end?
MARC: I had to do a scene in an independent film where I was receiving oral sex. That was tough.
In the end I just had to tune everything out and really be in that moment. Which is what acting is all about, being in the moment. But that was an awkward moment.
27.) What kind of qualities or abilities would
you say you need to have to be a good actor?
MARC:The Truth.
28.) What was it like getting your very first
acting job?
MARC: Euphoric. Top of the world stuff.
To be recognized for what you do, and have someone tell you, that out of all the actors they saw,
you were the best one for the job.
It's almost indescribable.
Did your training teach you about
what to expect?
MARC:
Not at all. I was trained in the theatre. My first big job was the lead in a series.
Talk about jumping in head first.
29.) Is there anything that you learned on the
job that you weren't taught in your training?
MARC: Except the unexpected, always.
You never know what's going to happen when they yell action. Be present and make clear choices, and most of all tell the truth... always.
Natalie Helmig ~ Edinburgh, Scotland
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SPECIAL COMMENTS:
Thanks, I had fun,
Marc Cohen
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