Rory Cochrane Interview - Public Enemies Movie

"Rory Cochrane Interview"
"Right At Your Door Movie" &
"Public Enemies Movie"
by Tim Nasson
Publisher WILD ABOUT MOVIES
February 8, 2008

Rory Cochrane may not be a household name – yet – but you’ve certainly seen his face and marveled at his acting prowess. “CSI: Miami” Seasons 1, 2 and 3. (He got killed at the beginning of season 3). “Someone had to die,” he laughs. “And it certainly wasn’t going to he Horatio [David Carusso].”

The thirty-six year old American movie star – yes, and more about that ‘movie star’ label later – didn’t start out in the ‘biz,’ as everyone in Hollywood calls it, intentionally.

“I was with a friend in NYC in the early 90s who went to a movie audition. We were just hanging out and I went with him since there was nothing else to do,” says Cochrane. “I was working in a restaurant at the time – dreaming of becoming a waiter. Back in the 90s it was fucking harder to get a job waiting tables than it was to get a role in a movie. No joke.”

Long story short, while at the casting call with his friend, Rory Cochrane caught the attention of the casting director and was asked to try out for a TV show that went nowhere, “H.E.L.P.”

But the role on that show was enough to catch the attention of Hollywood central and Cochrane was cast as the son of Jeff Goldblum in the 1992 film “Fathers and Sons.”

“I was born in NYC but spent my formative years, till I was about ten, in England,” says Cochrane, who has not a hint of a British accent. “I moved back to NYC where I went to high school and took some drama classes, never expecting to ever act professionally.”

Currently Cochrane can be seen in the absolutely terrifying movie “Right At Your Door.” Just released on DVD, the film which hit theaters late 2007 and got some great reviews, is one of the most disturbing character driven films in years.

In “Right At Your Door” Los Angeles county is targeted by a ‘dirty bomb’ – that goes off – and kills untold numbers of people.

The movie could have been – and may become – a play, since it centers on virtually only two characters. Rory Cochrane and the fantastic Mary McCormack who play husband and wife.

Wife leaves for work before the dirty bomb hits and gets stuck in the melee. Husband is fiddling around the house, and hears the news on the radio and television, reminiscent of the millions who heard the news of the 9/11 fiasco in NYC while many of their loved ones were headed off to school, work and errands.

Radio hosts, in “Right At Your Door” demand that all residents who are at home seal their houses as best as possible. Tape up any and every crack in windows, doors and walls that air from the outside can get in. Cochrane’s Brad does that.

Unable to get in touch with his wife, as all phone lines are tied up, he is left to wonder what happens to his wife, until, a day later, she comes banging on the sealed up door. What to do? He can’t let her in because she is contaminated, coughing, and showing all kinds of symptoms being bandied about the talk shows that indicate she will be dead soon, and if let into the house will infect him.

Not quite “Sophie’s Choice” but a nail biter - for sure.

Enough about the plot. Anyone who thinks they can predict the ending of “Right At Your Door” also must have thought they could have predicted the score of Super Bowl XLII, and that the New England Patriots were going to end up 19-0.

OK. More about Rory Cochrane and his movie star status.

Yes, “Right At Your Door” didn’t make a killing at the box office when it was in theaters, but it is doing well on DVD. And will do even better now that you know you need to see it because you have no idea how it will end. It’s a “Sixth Sense” ending times 10.

Rory Cochrane isn’t the most charismatic person you’d meet. And in that, I mean the least cocky, no pun intended, and one of the most down to earth actors I have ever interviewed.

“What’s on the horizon?” I ask him, wondering what his next movie is.

MORE "Rory Cochrane" BELOW THE JUMP

Rory Cochrane

“Oh. It’s called ‘Public Enemies,’” he says, matter-of-factly.

“Anyone I know that might be in it with you?” I ask, ignorantly, since the movie won’t even start shooting until mid March 2008 – in Chicago.

“It has Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Channing Tatum, and Marion Cotillard (this year’s Best Actress Oscar nominee for “La Vie En Rose”),” Cochrane answers in a monotone.

“Who is directing it?” I ask, again, not having a clue.

“Michael Mann,” he answers, without a hint of making me feel like a complete fool, since, as a publisher of a movie website, I should have been on the top of my game.

If there is a D-list actor (which, in itself isn’t a bad thing – just ask Kathy Griffin) who has a chance of making it to the A-list very soon, there is no one other than Rory Cochrane than I can think of.

To watch the “Right At Your Door” trailer, click here.

For more about the upcoming “Public Enemies,” click here.

And, we are the first media outlet in the world to announce Cochrane’s participation in “Public Enemies.” IMDB, the bible of movie websites, as of February 8, 2008, doesn’t even have him listed.

For any of you girls who think you have a chance with Rory. Think again. While he did date Renée Zellweger for four years, he is in a "very happy relationship with a non actress" and having fun with their new Stabyhoun, Jack. And now living in Los Angeles.

Stay tuned for more about Rory Cochrane. We’ll be interviewing him again once “Public Enemies” is in the can.