Catching Up with Jeremy Luke

Paste: You’re not the first actor to play the infamous Mickey Cohen. Sean Penn played him in Gangster Squad this year and Harvey Keitel played him in the 1991 movie Bugsy. Did you see their performances before you began filming?

Jeremy Luke: I didn’t see Keitel’s or Sean’s version until about halfway through because I didn’t want them to influence me at all. By [the time I watched] I had my own decisions on how I wanted to play it. I highly respect both those guys. They’re both a couple of my heroes. Watching them and watching their approach to it, those guys are great. They made a choice. They went with it. I feel like I made a choice too and I went with it.

Paste: How would you describe Mickey Cohen?

Jeremy Luke: I kind of approached him like a likable guy. He really enjoyed people’s company. In a certain weird kind of way he did look for people’s approval. He did try to better himself, and that’s kind of a commendable thing if you ask me. Somebody’s born into a first-grade education learns to read, learns to write, tries to learn new words, and tries to educate themselves. My standpoint was that he really enjoyed being a celebrity gangster. He liked being around people and hosting his club. He would shake everybody’s hand that came into his club. But the flip side is he had OCD and washed his hands several times a day. They didn’t know what it was back then to ease his suffering.

Paste: He was an extremely violent man. What was it like to play that?

Jeremy Luke: Mickey didn’t go after those who were innocent. He went after people who crossed his path. He wasn’t the type of guy who went out looking for a fight. When somebody crossed your path, you’re justified to do something about it. That’s where I came at it—looking for the justification of what I was doing.

Paste: Was it difficult to get into the post-World War II, noir mindset of this project?

Jeremy Luke: There’s something that happens when you put on these clothes. When I put on these suits from the 1940s and you get in a room and there’s a 10-piece band playing in front of you and 120 extras walking around in great ’40s wear, and you look to your left and there’s [co-star] Robert Knepper dressed like a psychopath from the 1940s and you look to your right and [co-star] Ed Burns is all donned out, and there’s just something that happens that makes it kind of easy.

Paste: What did you learn from working with the series’ writer, director and executive producer Frank Darabont?

Jeremy Luke: So much. His enthusiasm about what he does is so apparent, and that’s why it’s great, because he loves what he does. He doesn’t sell out. He doesn’t do shit that he’s not 100 percent on. He loves what he does, and there’s something to be said about that.

Paste: If Mob City gets a second season, what can we expect to see from Mickey?

Jeremy Luke: I got some great advice from [co-star] Jon Bernthal. He said, “Let the character evolve.” I think in season two you’ll see Mickey comes out with a vengeance.

all interview = www.pastemagazine.com
Tweet