Cory Michael Smith Embraces Chaos in Jesse Armstrong's 'Mountainhead'

Newsweek

23-05-2025

Cory Michael Smith portrait supplied by PR
Cory Michael Smith portrait supplied by PR
Emilio Madrid
"I'm really grateful that I feel like I didn't f*** it up."
Four tech CEOs, drunk on power, reunite at a mountaintop home amid a global economic crisis they might be partially responsible for. "There is a power that is purchased by money, where they don't have to apologize for their behavior," Cory Michael Smith says about playing Venis in Jesse Armstrong's HBO film Mountainhead (May 31). "A lot of these guys probably grew up not being the coolest kids in class." Part of the struggle for Smith was finding the space between drama and comedy. "Figuring out the balance was a little nerve-racking." Plus, Smith was excited to work with Armstrong. "I watched Succession, like most actors, with awe and envy, thinking, 'Wow, that's the luckiest cast.' Being invited into his [Armstrong's] feature directorial debut is so dreamy." Smith was also eager to work alongside Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman and Ramy Youssef. "I'm really grateful that I feel like I didn't f*** it up...this felt like a monstrous opportunity, and a monstrous opportunity to fail and have to really consider going back to school if I just humiliated myself."
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Editor's Note: This conversation has been edited and condensed for publication.
I just want to, for the record, put it out into the world that your performance in this, I think, is going to be A: a standout, and B: people are going to be talking about it, and C: it's haunting. It's funny, but it's also haunting in a way. Like I'm unsettled by you in this, which is kind of a nice thing, I think.
That's the aim. I really appreciate the review. Thank you for your generosity and your kind words. I really appreciate it. Most jobs that I say yes to, I'm a little afraid of in a great way. But this one was daunting in a very unique, new way for me. And part of it was trying to figure out what the balance was between the comedy and also being deeply unsettling, where this guy has a lot of power, and he is arguably responsible for a lot of the terrible things happening around the world and the chaos, and is unwilling to show his concern or care to people. So there should be something that's really disturbing and upsetting about him, but he should also be funny. And trying to figure out how to do that well, in the company of three brilliant comedians, I was like—I had high hopes, but did not know how this was gonna roll.
Cory Michael Smith in HBO's 'Mountainhead.'
Cory Michael Smith in HBO's 'Mountainhead.'
Macall Polay/HBO
Well, that's kind of why I say you stand out. Because the character is so absurd and huge, but also dangerous and maniacal. There are so many different levels of why I want to laugh at this person, but I also want to go hide in a corner and delete my social media so that this person can't follow me. You know?
I appreciate that. You're one of the first people I'm talking to about this, so I'm also really hearing responses to what I've done for the first time. And I really do appreciate all this, but I'm calibrating in real time. You know what I mean?
I think it's going to get a lot of attention. Are you prepared for that?
I don't know, but here we are. I mean, of course, you make something, you want people to watch it. There have been plenty of projects that I really believe in that are on the great wide river of television and film, and some of them are seen more than others. I'm really proud of this. I'm really excited to be in a Jesse Armstrong project, and I think he's just one of the most brilliant people I've had the pleasure of working with and for, so I hope people do see this. I think it's a pretty unique, special piece.
How did it all come about for you?
Oh, it was pretty fast, man. It was really very fast. We were all cast within a month of starting the shoot. Steve was first, and then I made an audition for this, trying to fight against some actors much bigger than I. I made this tape and sent it to Jesse on a Monday, and he called me Tuesday morning and asked me to do his movie. That was really very cool for me, because I did not know that that's what that phone call was going to be. And then a few weeks later, we were in Utah shooting this thing.
Cory Michael Smith, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, and Ramy Youssef in HBO's 'Mountainhead.'
Cory Michael Smith, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, and Ramy Youssef in HBO's 'Mountainhead.'
Macall Polay/HBO
Insane. You guys just finished filming it not long ago, right?
Yeah, we just finished it. It truly was—I mean, it was really a whirlwind, and we were aware of it the whole time. But like the four of us, our little quartet of actors, we're so lucky that when we all arrived there, we really clicked. I mean, there was a lot of mutual respect going into the process. But the thing that was so incredible about this, and I think why the movie works—whatever this bond is that we created very quickly, as friends and frenemies, it was so easy to work with these guys. I've worked with some amazing, talented, kind people, but as a whole unit, I don't know if I've worked with a small group where everybody was so different, uniquely different. There was no sense of competition outside of what's happening in the script. Just the most supportive, generous actors. It just clicked immediately. And so, we sort of fell into this friend unit very quickly. And we were aware from the very beginning, like, oh, this is very special, and this is going to be over before we know it. So let's relish every day of working together.
And also with the subject matter, I understand the rush to do it all, because in this world we're living in now, it seems like every week it's a different world. And with this subject matter, it does bring about a lot of questions and comparisons. How did you figure out how you were going to play this person, someone who's going to remind a lot of viewers of a lot of the people we see in the newspapers? The Elon Musks, the Mark Zuckerbergs, etc.
I know there are going to be some comparisons, just by nature of the job and this status of power and wealth. But, you know, these are unique individuals born of Jesse's mind. There are plenty of interviews out there on podcasts and video of many of these tech CEOs and billionaires who are very comfortable today giving political dissertations outside of their work, and that I'm really fascinated by. I'm fascinated by paying attention to these people who are sort of drunk on power and wealth, who are untouchable even by the U.S. government. It's really interesting that we're living in a world where our elected politicians are sort of at the mercy of the tech oligarchs. And watching [this] play out in this current political climate and moment, there's so much there to look at to understand. This current moment of these egos and these figureheads who are really actually the chess players in the world right now, or elected politicians. And that is a really interesting thing. So when looking at this script and these people, it's like, "What is the task here? Who are we building?" And Jesse's dialogue is so delicious. There's so much in there. And so, as you're figuring out the puzzle of what was a very long script with a lot of words and ideas and tracking the power play in there, that was the task at hand here.
How did you figure out the angle in which you were going to approach this this?
Figuring out the balance of this guy was a little nerve-wracking at first. When I showed up in Utah, I said to Jesse, "You gotta just help me out here. Like, turn my dials. If I am too intense, let me know. If I need to lean into the comedy more, let me know." Because I gotta navigate being terrifying and being funny. But the thing that's a little freeing with these guys, and what I glean from when I listen to them, there is a power that is purchased by the money that they have, where they don't have to apologize for their behavior, and they don't have to adapt as readily for someone else's comfort. And a lot of these guys probably grew up not being the coolest kids in class. So there's a lot of overcompensation happening. They're really so pleased with themselves that they have this power, and they can buy nice clothes, and so many people need them and want them. You can feel it. It's a very particular indulgence. Especially now in this political climate, they say things that are inappropriate, and they're allowed to both because of the cultural climate and also because they're so f****** rich, no one can say anything. And they work in an industry that everyone is reliant on, that most people do not understand. That's a really fascinating cocktail for human behavior, and I think Jesse captures that really beautifully. And I was trying to calibrate it such that, what is the unique identity of Venis compared to the other guys? And it's that he's far more rich than they are, even though they have tens of billions of dollars. But there's a big difference, you know? There's like an audacity to that. Having some money to buy nice clothes, but not necessarily the best clothes or the ones that fit exactly right. You're like, "Oh, you have money, but you're still a millennial wearing skinny jeans in 2025." It's like, "You're cool, but you're not fully cool." Trying to figure out where Venis sits in that concoction of these guys. It was a balance of trying to plan some of this stuff in advance, trying to figure out how I can present him so that he's a little terrifying and intense, and then kind of just seeing what happened with these four guys, and where everybody sort of fell on the dashboard.
Cory Michael Smith, Steve Carell, Ramy Youssef, and Jason Schwartzman in HBO's 'Mountainhead.'
Cory Michael Smith, Steve Carell, Ramy Youssef, and Jason Schwartzman in HBO's 'Mountainhead.'
Fred Hayes/HBO
One of the scenes that I keep thinking about is when they're climbing the mountain to get to the top, and then they write on their chests how much they're worth. But it's not even so much the monetary value of them writing on their chests that is the main thing. It's the fact that all of their chests are so perfectly shaved. It shows how insanely vain and out of touch these dudes are to the point where they're even obsessing over their body hair on a mountaintop.
Yeah, just a way to celebrate one's net worth, man! Climbing Mount Techmore. That one was wild to shoot, to be fair. The weather that day—I mean, it was perfect. The sky was clear, but the wind was crazy, and you had these massive gusts of wind that were blowing the snow up into our face when we were shooting. You can see from the drone shot, pointing down at us. We're faced away, it was toward the end of the day. The wind was really picking up. Steve and Ramy have these beards and the snow is like coming up, and I turn over and look, and these guys are absolute snow monsters. And we're all shaking. Ramy is bent over like, "We gotta finish this. We gotta finish this." It was a very cold, brutal, brutal day, but we looked like we're having a lot of fun. I mean, we had fun, but it didn't look as brutal as it felt.
I mean, it's quite a scene and it says a lot. But after doing all of this, did the subject matter make you reevaluate how you do things online? How you approach social media?
God, I wish it had a bigger impact than it did. I don't love social media, but oh, God, it's one of those things where you're like, I know this is bad, but I can't step away. It's a terrible, terrible addiction. They've really made us feel like we need this in our lives. It's this, this feeling of connection. I don't know how connected we all are, but it has not changed my behavior with it, no.
Still looking at the memes?
I like your memes. Yeah, I try not to spend too much time on it. I read a book—this is so dumb—I'm not a big self-help book guy, but I did start the year reading one that was about making time. And it's not about being more efficient with your time, but figuring out how to cut things out. And one of the things that it suggested, that I did, was redesign your cell phone to spread out all your apps, and so the ones you want to not use more are all the way in the back. So I did my social media like that, way back [in the back of the phone]. It's the annoying thing of having to swipe a lot of pages just to get to it.
Wow. That's good. I literally yesterday talked to Jonathan Groff about how he famously does not have social media at all.
Not even a Finsta [fake Instagram]?
That's what I asked him! I was like, well, what do you do with your phone then? Like what's the point of the phone, other than text messages and Instagram?
I'm not on it too much. I'm not too addicted. But, you know, there's a group of acquaintances that sit between friends and strangers, and they live in social media world. And I like being connected to these people.
Well there's a good that can come from it. I mean, just on how you approach it and how much you let it dictate how you conduct yourself. And I think this film really shows that you don't have to give in to these evil dudes' plan of knowing everything about us, but give them a little of what you want without all of it, if you will.
Yeah, but you, for example, this is part of your life. Social media. Do you feel like you're in control?
I am! Because—and this is what I always say—no one knows much about my life. I keep all of that separate, and I just focus on pop culture and nostalgia.
Do you have a Finsta?
Yes. I'll DM it to you.
Yeah, you got to keep it separated.
Well, the other thing I want to know from this is, you've done some great things, especially in recent years. How do you feel at this moment in your career with this project coming out?
One of my favorite terms in this business is "breakthrough." Because I think, it's now been at three different times in my career, I've had some article call me a "breakout" actor, which is hilarious, because I don't know what that means. I'm like, I keep breaking through something, but I'm not there yet. How I feel right now, I feel really invigorated and activated. I'm really grateful for my career. Just to be a working actor was the dream. And it's not that I'm not ambitious or I don't have higher dreams, but I've had very reachable dreams, and I keep moving the bar. So I'm really, truly grateful for everything that I've been able to do. And some extraordinary filmmakers, some of my favorite filmmakers, have asked me to work with them, sometimes in tiny, tiny roles. And what's happening now is I'm getting invited to do really significant roles with some of my favorite creators. And that's like, it's so beyond me. This one in particular was insane. I watched Succession, like most actors, with awe and envy. Just thinking like, "Wow, man, that's the luckiest cast on television." And I also felt that way about Veep, which Jesse was also working on. So like, two of my favorite shows of all time, having the fingerprint of this man, and then being invited into his feature directorial debut is so dreamy. It's kind of beyond. So I'm just really grateful. And I'm really grateful that I feel like I didn't f*** it up. You know, this doesn't ever really get easier with each job and each responsibility. I sort of design it this way. I only really go for things that terrify me a little bit. But this felt like a monstrous opportunity, and a monstrous opportunity to fail and have to really consider going back to school if I just humiliated myself. But I feel really great. Working with three actors that I admire who are phenomenal comedians and really still being new in the proper comedy world, I've done some comedic performances and serious stuff, but Saturday Night was really my first proper comedy, and [now] I feel a little empowered. I feel really in a good place and really grateful.
And I have to say too, just because I don't feel like you got enough attention or love for playing Chevy Chase, that was brilliant. Brilliant.
I loved that. I loved working on that movie [Saturday Night], and I love Jason Reitman. And that was also really terrifying. That was terrifying because there's not always a right and a wrong way to do a performance, but in that case, there's definitely a wrong way. It's like, if you're far, far away from the essence and spirit of Chevy Chase, it's just wrong, you could still be funny, but it would be wrong. And that was like, oh, God. There's a real barometer here for success. So that was just working out of—partially, that hard work was built out of paranoia and fear, which, you know, is not great, I understand, psychologically, but it is inspiring. But I loved—I'm really proud of that movie and performance. I loved working with Jason.
And not even just the performance, but the physicality of the performance. The way you physically were Chevy Chase, which has his own unique thing, that's what really blew me away. Just watching how you physically approached it, you know.
Thank you. I psychotically spent a couple months just like imitating that man in my apartment. He was all I was watching, because I was like, I gotta figure this out.
I mean, that's a mental image.
It was a dark—I mean, no, it was fun. It was fine. But luckily, no one was in my apartment watching that.
Well, after this movie, with these tech bros, maybe these four dudes are watching.
That's true. I have never covered up this [computer] camera. Maybe I should sometime. [laughs]