Latest news with #Nivola
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Cooper Koch says he auditioned to play a Menendez brother in two other productions before Netflix series
, star of Monsters: Lyle and Erik Menendez, has revealed that prior to landing the role of Erik Menendez in the hit Netflix series, he had auditioned to play one of the brothers in not one, but two other TV productions. Koch recently appeared in conversation with actor Sam Nivola as part of Variety's Actors On Actors interview series. Whilst speaking with Nivola, he admitted that he had his sights set on playing one of the brothers for years before landing his big break in last year's series. 'My second audition ever was for the Law & Order series about them in 2017,' he revealed. 'And then I also had an audition for the Lifetime movie that they were doing the same year. I just felt like this insane cosmic, universe-y thing that was like, 'I have to play this part,'' Koch told Nivola. 'It was just that immense empathy that you feel for a person, and I had to do it'. And this immense empathy.' Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders was released in 2017, starring Gus Halper and Miles Gaston Villanueva as Erik and Lyle respectively. Edie Falco also starred as Leslie Abramson, the defense attorney who represented the brothers. The Lifetime movie Menendez: Blood Brothers was released that same year, starring as Nico Tortorella as Lyle and Myko Olivier as Erik. Hole frontwoman Courtney Love also starred as the brothers' mother Kitty. View this post on Instagram A post shared by popandfilms 🏳️🌈 (@popandfilms) Koch also said that he felt connected to the brothers for a number of reasons, including that they both attended the same Calabasas high school. 'There are all these weird parallels,' he said. 'I still care so deeply about both of them. They're going to parole board in June; that looks very positive,' he went on to say. The actor has been open about his support for the brothers throughout the promotional campaign for the show, saying : 'It is my firm belief that the Menéndez Brothers did not receive a fair second trial and all the evidence that supported their claims of sexual, psychological, physical and emotional abuse at the hands of their mother and father were not considered.' Koch also recalled his rigorous prepation for the playing Menendez, telling Nivola he poured over recordings of the brother for months before shooting: 'I listened to him every night before I went to bed. I had him on in the car when I was driving,' he recalled. 'I really did want to get his voice and mannerisms, because they all further support that he was being sexually abused by his father. I know there's so many perspectives, but I always wanted the audience to sympathise with him.' The performer would later go on to be nominated for a Golden Globe award for his turn in the series. The post Cooper Koch says he auditioned to play a Menendez brother in two other productions before Netflix series appeared first on Attitude.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sam Nivola and Cooper Koch Confront Nepo Baby Criticism and Being Accused of Playing Sexual Deviant Brothers: ‘You Still Have to Love Your Character'
Sam Nivola and Cooper Koch both played brothers in complicated fraternal relationships this past year. Nivola, as Lochlan Ratliff on 'The White Lotus,' yearned to impress elder sibling Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), but ended up in an intoxicated tryst with him. Koch, as Erik Menendez on 'Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,' had to deliver a prismatic performance, illuminating all the ways that commentators and intimates saw the case of two brothers accused and later convicted of killing their parents. Both actors also had to deliver showpiece moments: Nivola in Lochlan's season-ending near-death experience and Koch in a one-take episode in which Erik explains to his attorney the abuse within the Menendez household. Sam Nivola: This is our first time meeting. More from Variety Parker Posey Tells Lisa Kudrow to Star in 'The White Lotus' Season 4 as They Bond Over Sitcom Struggles and Why Phoebe on 'Friends' Was 'A Lot of Work' Seth Rogen and Jason Segel Relive 27 Years of Friendship: Smoking Before 'The Matrix,' Peeing Next to Scorsese and Harrison Ford Watching Segel Naked 'Monsters' Star Cooper Koch Read His One-Take Episode Script 'Almost Every Day' for Eight Months: 'I Would Write Out All of the Words' Cooper Koch: But I feel like we've known each other — you kind of are my brother. Nivola: We should have been in each other's shows. Koch: It should have just been us. So what's the beginning for you? Where did it all start? Nivola: I'm from Brooklyn, New York. I grew up with two parents who were both actors — [Alessandro Nivola and Emily Mortimer]. Koch: OK. Nivola: Do you have parents in the industry? Koch: I don't have actor parents, but my grandfather was a producer. Nivola: I constantly get the question. Koch: Nepo baby. Nivola: Yeah, nepo baby. My whole thing was that my parents really didn't want me to be an actor, which I totally get — I don't know if I'd want my kid to be an actor. It's a really mentally tough career to be in. And even if I had no success, I would want to be doing it. But they really didn't want me to do it. Koch: And then, of course, you're like, 'Sorry, I'm doing it, guys.' Nivola: You did a lot of theater in high school? Koch: Since I was 5 years old. We had two musicals a year. I see my life as a constant. You start a show, and you have the rehearsals. And then you do the show, and it's over, and then what's the next one? And then you go again. What were you doing before you got that first job? Did you do any theater? Nivola: I did. I did all the school plays that I could do. I was just really into watching movies. I initially got a Criterion Channel subscription to impress this girl that I was courting. She's like, 'I wear berets, and I'm really into France at the moment.' And I was like, 'OK, I can get behind that.' And then I had a period of ultimate pretension and fell in love with cinema: That audition was for 'White Noise.' [I said], 'This is an opportunity to be on the set of one of the greatest directors of all time,' but my parents really wanted me to go to college, which I understand. Koch: Did you not go to college? Nivola: I went to college for one semester. Koch: I love that. How did you land this crazy part that … Nivola: … changed my life? I fear it's not going to be as interesting as you think it is, because it's literally like, did a self-tape, did a callback, booked it. My callback was with Mike [White]. The one thing that was different is that his writing is just unbelievably natural and real. Not that other writing I've worked with in the past isn't, but there's something I specifically love about the way he writes that made it so I didn't have to do any work to prepare for the audition. What about your audition process? What's Ryan Murphy's vibe? Koch: We actually didn't know that he was going to be there. They didn't tell us. We just thought it was going to be casting directors. But then he just waltzes in the room. He was like, 'How much do you know?' And I was like, 'I know everything.' Nivola: Referring to the lines? Koch: No, referring to the story. We sat down and had this amazing conversation about it all. It really calmed the nerves. We went upstairs and did the callback for two hours. We did three scenes and had conversations in between. It was very collaborative — one of the best audition experiences I've ever had. Nivola: 'What do you know?' That's amazing. You were like, 'All of it.' Koch: 'I know everything!' Because I've been with this story for so long. My second audition ever was for the 'Law & Order' series about them in 2017. And then I also had an audition for the Lifetime movie that they were doing the same year. I just felt this insane cosmic thing that was like, 'I have to play this part.' And this immense empathy. There are all of these weird parallels. We both went to Calabasas High School. Nivola: Holy shit. Koch: Yeah. So it's been a long ride. And I still care so deeply about both of them. They're going to parole board in June; that looks very positive. Nivola: Did you watch tons of videos to try to impersonate the way he speaks and the way he walks? What level of impersonating were you doing? Part of what I love so much about the show is that there's a lot of ambiguity, and so you have to make some hard-and-fast choices. Koch: I listened to him every night before I went to bed. I had him on in the car when I was driving. I really did want to get his voice and mannerisms, because they all further support that he was being sexually abused by his father. I know there's so many perspectives, but I always wanted the audience to sympathize with him. Nivola: I have to ask you about the one-take episode. How many takes did you do? Koch: I had eight months with it, so I just read it every day, and I would visualize what he was saying and create those images so clearly, so that when we went to do it, it would emotionally affect me. We did eight takes, four on the first day, four on the second day, and they chose the very last one. Nivola: This was near the end of the shoot? Koch: Yeah — I had a really long time with it, and it was the backbone of my whole character. That was my backstory; I didn't have to write one. They wrote it for me. Let me turn it back on you. How did you get your relationship down? You and Patrick had such an interesting dichotomy. Nivola: We talked to each other a lot about it. Part of the nature of that show that makes it such a dream as an actor is that you're living with the people that are your family in the show, and you're spending all your time with them. They've shut the hotels down so there's no one else there to distract you. The time difference with New York was 12 hours, so I was hardly in touch with anyone. Koch: You're really in that bubble. Nivola: And you feel like your character, in a lot of ways, because you're sleeping in the same bed. We talked with Mike a lot about the siblings, getting the dynamic of those two on opposite ends of this spectrum of morality. I think something we've both had to deal with is lots of people being like, 'Your character's kind of a creep.' Koch: It's so funny. I didn't feel that way at all. At the end, when you're like, 'I'm a people pleaser, I just want to make everybody happy, I'm in a family of narcissists,' I fully was like, 'Yes. That's what this is.' What do people say? Nivola: Well, they're just saying he's a sexual deviant of some sort. In your case as well, let's say they were murderers who killed in cold blood and there was no reason for it. Or let's say my character is a pervert. You still have to find a way as an actor to love your character. I get really protective over my characters. Koch: As you should. That's the only way. Nivola: You can tell, watching, how much you love Erik, and that's a beautiful thing. Koch: So to bring it around to death, what was that like? Nivola: It was really emotional. Before going to Thailand, I would speak very disparagingly about actors coming back from a shoot and being like, 'I really lost myself in the character.' 'Fuck you!' But when I was there, I was like, 'I get it now.' I felt like Jason Isaacs was my dad, bringing such raw realness to that scene: I'm in this moment, and I'm dying. Koch: I really thought you were gone. Nivola: I did too. Best of Variety 25 Hollywood Legends Who Deserve an Honorary Oscar New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Animated Program — Can Netflix Score Big With 'Arcane,' 'Devil May Cry' and the Final Season of 'Big Mouth?'
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Filming ‘The White Lotus' terrified Sam Nivola more than once
"This interview is just gonna be a list of my fears," Sam Nivola says with a laugh. The 21-year-old actor is looking back at his breakthrough performance as people-pleasing Lochlan Ratliff in Season 3 of HBO's The White Lotus and, for the second time in a 20-minute interview with Gold Derby, has referenced working through a phobia. As part of his first-ever (near) death scene — the result of Lochlan accidentally drinking a poisoned protein shake in the finale — Nivola shot a sequence in which the teen imagined himself drowning. It was filmed toward the end of the cast's lengthy stay in Thailand, when Nivola happened to have two weeks between call times. "It's always weird as an actor when you're not shooting every day. You can sort of psych yourself out. It's better when you're working constantly and you don't have the time to really get nervous or overthink things," he says. "I'm a very claustrophobic person, so I was just thinking about this thing, just freaking out for two weeks." More from GoldDerby Adria Arjona on breaking 'Star Wars' ground with intense 'Andor' scenes: 'I found it really important' TV showrunner panel: 'The Better Sister,' 'Deli Boys,' 'Overcompensating,' 'Shifting Gears,' and 'Three Women' 'Three Women' showrunner Laura Eason talks courage, desire, and 'superhero' intimacy coordinators Adding to the nervous anticipation, White filmed two versions of Lochlan's surreal white-light moment: the one viewers ultimately saw and one that involved Lochy emerging from a zipped body bag in the water. "I did it, and it was fine, but it was a full-ass day of being in this body bag with a can of air which, I'm sure, for lots of people who have their scuba license, is normal, but I do not, and that shit scares the fuck out of me," he says. "I had to learn how to clear the water out of my nose and everything, and do all this while blind underwater because I didn't have goggles on." SEE The White Lotus star Sam Nivola talks Lochlan's latest desperate act, teases 'chaotic, complex, devastating' finale An underwater speaker on a Bangkok soundstage allowed him to hear when "Action!" was called. "I'd take a big breath and then drop the can of air, and then unzip myself and climb out, and then I had to die in the water and start to float back down. But in order to float back down, you need to have no air in your lungs, because if you have air in your lungs, you float up, it makes you buoyant. So I had to time it perfectly so that I had little enough air in my lungs that I would start to float down and look dead, but enough air in my lungs to make it to the top and breathe without suffocating," he explains with another laugh. "So it was a delicate, delicate art that we mastered over the course of a day, and it was really fun in the end. I'm happy I did it, but it was so intense." To prep for the emotional side of the sequence, Nivola watched interviews with people who've had near-death experiences or flatlined before having their heart restarted and studied "what you see and what you're thinking, and how it's kind of thrilling in a weird way, apparently," he says. "But at the end of the day, I was really trying to wrap my head around the line that Lochlan says, which is, 'I think I saw God.' It feels very important, because it's my character's last line, and obviously this season is about spirituality, and religion to a greater extent. Does that mean my character has changed and gone through some period of growth? Or does it mean he's sort of grasping at straws and trying to try on religion in his last moment in the show and that's still not the right thing for him?" Stefano Delia/HBO Nivola's claustrophobia extends to a fear of large crowds in places where he feels trapped — which made filming Episode 5 at a real, packed Full Moon Party on the island of Koh Phangan "terrifying," he admits. "You have to take a boat to get [there], and then you can't leave until the boat goes home, which is like 2 in the morning or something," he says. "The boat that we took out had to turn back halfway through, because there was a big storm and it was so bumpy that we nearly capsized. And then we finally went back to the party, and it was so intense having to perform as an actor while you can't even hear anything, because there's like fucking house music throbbing in your eardrum at a million decibels, and there's just a million people that are high on God knows what, with their sweaty bodies slamming into you. But, of course, it was also incredibly fun and such a unique experience to shoot at something like that. ... After we finished the scene, we all just stayed there and partied and danced around for a while. It was an unforgettable experience, but it was also sort of terrifying." While The White Lotus aired earlier this spring, Nivola was busy in Wilmington, N.C., filming the upcoming Bobby Farrelly-directed comedy Driver's Ed and didn't find himself out and about enough to be accosted by fans wanting to dissect scenes like Lochlan's drug-fueled yacht threesome with temptress Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) and Lochlan's finance bro brother, Saxon (). Now, though, he's been hearing the same thing again and again: "Probably five times a day, someone is like, 'I'm happy you didn't die!' My rehearsed answer is, 'Yeah, me, too!'" Nivola says. Thanks to the success of the show, the son of actors Alessandro Nivola and Emily Mortimer has now experienced another first: being offered roles in films without auditioning. He's also landed some theater auditions, which he hopes will soon pay off. "I really, really want to do a play," he says, adding that he's currently writing one with a pal. "[The White Lotus] is such a machine for catapulting people into a space where they are going to have opportunities to continue to work at the highest level, and I'm crossing my fingers that I'm an example of that because I love doing what I do, and to continue to get opportunities to do it is just like a dream come true. I feel like the luckiest guy in the world." He'd like to balance more A-list productions that allow him to continue to learn opposite veterans he looks up to, such as his White Lotus parents Jason Isaacs and , with making low-budget films and black box theater with his friends. "I'm so young that I feel like every day, I learn so much about everything, not just acting," he says. "I feel like I'm at the age where I'm just such a sponge for my life, and I'm just trying to soak it all in." Best of GoldDerby TV showrunner panel: 'The Better Sister,' 'Deli Boys,' 'Overcompensating,' 'Shifting Gears,' and 'Three Women' 'Three Women' showrunner Laura Eason talks courage, desire, and 'superhero' intimacy coordinators 'Overcompensating' showrunner Scott King on Prime Video comedy: 'There are no heroes or villains — everyone is just a f-king mess' Click here to read the full article.
Forbes
01-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘The White Lotus' Season 3: Why Do Lochlan And Piper Look So Familiar?
Sam Nivola and Sarah Catherine Hook in "The White Lotus." The White Lotus Season 3's cast includes Sam Nivola and Sarah Catherine Hook, who along with Patrick Schwarzenegger play siblings Lochlan, Piper and Saxon Ratliff. What else have Nivola and Hook appeared in? The White Lotus Season 3 kicked off Feb. 16 on Max with new episodes premiering weekly. Sunday's episode was the seventh this season, with the season finale set for this weekend. Like the first two seasons of The White Lotus, Season 3 features an ensemble cast of characters whose paths intertwine as the story leads to the reveal of a mysterious death that was teased at the beginning of the season. Embroiled in the anxiety-inducing scenarios of The White Lotus Season 3 are the three Ratliff siblings, who are in Thailand with their parents, Timothy (Jason Isaacs) and Victoria (Parker Posey). Piper encourages the family to vacation in Thailand over the false pretense that she is going to interview a monk at a nearby monastery, but instead, she causes a flap when she tells her parents she wants to stay there to study for a year. Meanwhile, Saxon plans to introduce his little brother Lochlan to a life of sex and partying, an idea that goes horribly awry after they use mind-altering substances. Saxon, of course, is instantly familiar to audiences because he's played by Patrick Schwarzenegger, the son of film icon Arnold Schwarzenegger and renowned journalist Maria Shriver. In the past few years, the younger Schwarzenegger has starred in such shows as The Boys' spinoff series Gen V, the Chris Pratt action series The Terminal List and the Colin Firth and Toni Collette miniseries The Staircase. Both Nivola and Hook have built impressive resumes as well. While Nivola played a pair of small roles in 2013 and 2014, his career began in earnest in 2021 with a guest role in Lily James' Prime Video miniseries The Pursuit of Love. In feature films, Nivola also appeared in a small role as Alexander Bernstein, one of Leonard Bernstein (Bradley Cooper) and Felicia Montealegre's (Carey Mulligan) three children in the 2023 Netflix original movie Maestro. Hook's early credits include guest turns in NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2019, Hulu's Monsterland in 2020 and FX's American Crime Story: Impeachment in 2021. Below are some of the films and TV shows Hook and Nivola have appeared in before, which may explain why they look so familiar. Sarah Catherine Hook in "The Conjuring The Devil Made Me Do It." Sarah Catherine Hook stars as Debbie Glatzel opposite Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, who reprise their roles as demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren for The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. At the beginning of the film, the Warrens come to the Glatzel family home to document the exorcism of Debbie's younger brother, David (Julian Hilliard). During the exorcism, however, Debbie's boyfriend, Arne Johnson (Ruairi O'Connor) asks the demon to enter his soul to save David. When Arne becomes possessed, he commits a heinous crime. Sam Nivola and Adam Driver in "White Noise." Sam Nivola stars Heinrich Gladney, the son of Jack (Adam Driver) and stepson of Jack's fourth wife, Babette (Greta Gerwig), in White Noise, a Netflix original film. Directed by Noah Baumbach, White Noise is an absurdist dark comedy set in 1984, which is adapted from Don DeLillo's novel about the blended family dealing with 'love, death and an airborne toxic event.' Sarah Catherine Hook in "First Kill." Sarah Catherine Hook stars in the lead role of Juliette Fairmont in the Netflix original series First Kill as a 16-year-old vampire who must complete a huge right of passage: She must make her 'first kill' of a human to be accepted as an adult vampire. Juliette faces one huge roadblock, though, as she and a vampire hunter, Cal Burns (Imani Lewis) are falling for each other. Complicating matters, Cal, too, must make her 'first kill' to win her family's approval. First Kill, which consists of eight episodes, was canceled after one season. Sam Nivola and Nicole Kidman in "The Perfect Couple." Sam Nivola stars as Will, the son of Greer Garson Winbury (Nicole Kidman) and Tag Winbury (Liev Schreiber) in The Perfect Couple, a six-episode Netflix original miniseries. Like The White Lotus, The Perfect Couple surrounds a mysterious death and nearly everyone in the huge ensemble cast is suspect. The Perfect Couple also stars Eve Hewson, Meghann Fahy, Billy Howle, Jack Reynor, Dakota Fanning, Donna Lynne Champlin, Isabelle Adjani and Michael Beach. Sarah Catherine Hook in "Cruel Intentions." Sarah Catherine Hook stars in the Prime Video original series Cruel Intentions, an update of the 1999 dark romantic thriller starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon. The original film is based on 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. The names of the characters in the update of Cruel Intentions are different from those in the 1999 film. As such, Hook plays Caroline Merteuil, who along with her stepbrother Lucien Belmont (Zac Burgess) conspire to seduce Annie Grover (Savannah Lee Smith) — the daughter of the U.S. vice president — as a way to maintain their status at an elite Washington, D.C., college. Written and directed by Mike White, The White Lotus Season 3 also stars Michelle Monaghan, Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon, Natasha Rothwell, Walton Goggins, Lalisa Manobal, Tayme Thapthimthong, Patravadi Mejudhon, Aimee Lou Wood, Charlotte Le Bon, Jon Gries and Sam Rockwell. The first seven episodes of The White Lotus Season 3 as well as all episodes in Seasons 1 and 2 are streaming on Max.
The Independent
25-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
The secret Simpsons reference hidden in The White Lotus
Over the 36 seasons it's been on air, The Simpsons has made innumerable references to pop culture – but what happens when pop culture returns the favour? That's what seems to have happened this week, when HBO's satirical hit The White Lotus seemingly dropped a subtle nod to The Simpsons into its latest episode. The Simpsons had previously parodied The White Lotus in the 2024 episode 'The Yellow Lotus', which saw the Simpson family travel to a luxury resort where they meet the villainous Sideshow Bob (Kelsey Grammer). In the episode, Marge can be seen lounging poolside, reading a copy of My Name Is Barbra, the 2023 memoir by Barbra Streisand. The latest episode of The White Lotus, meanwhile, includes a sequence in which Michelle Monaghan can be seen reading exactly that book. The reference was spotted by longtime Simpsons showrunner Al Jean, who shared a side-by-side comparison of the two shows on X/Twitter. 'To understand the brilliant White Lotus season 3 you must first visit the yellow lotus,' wrote Jean. He followed this with the hashtag 'simpsonsprediction', a reference to the show's supposed penchant for anticipating real-world events. The latest episode of The White Lotus has also provoked discussion with its continuation of the incest plotline involving brothers Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and Lochlan (Sam Nivola). Speaking to Vanity Fair about the scene, Nivola said: 'It was f***ing insane. I had never even kissed anyone on camera, let alone done a sex scene. So that whole thing was really scary. 'I was on the phone with Patrick when we both knew we got the roles, and we were talking to each other about how we were going to play it. He said the scene where Chloe says to Saxon 'Your brother jerked you off last night' was in one of his audition sides. And I was like, 'What the f***? What?'' Nivola's father Alessandro, an actor best known for his roles in The Brutalist, Face/Off and Goal, also responded to the scene, writing on X/Twitter: 'Hahaha. I hadn't heard this @SamNivola.' The White Lotus airs on HBO Max in the US and can be streamed on Sky or NOW in the UK.
