Variety ‘Actors on Actors’: Sam Nivola and Cooper Koch on THE WHITE LOTUS, MONSTERS and More

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In a new conversation for VARIETY’s “Actors on Actors” issue, Cooper Koch and Sam Nivola discuss working with Patrick Schwarzenegger and Mike White to master the dynamic between Lochloan and Saxton on “The White Lotus,” Koch’s audition for “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” Nivola becoming interested in film to impress a girl, and more.

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Nivola on working with Patrick Schwarzenegger and Mike White to master the dynamic between Lochlan and Saxton: “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…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’…Well, they’re just saying he’s a sexual deviant of some sort…You still have to find a way as an actor to love your character. I get really protective over my characters.”

Koch on his audition for “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” with Ryan Murphy: “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’…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…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…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 initially becoming interested in film to impress a girl: “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.”

Nivola on the scene where Lochlan nearly dies: “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 on the one-take episode in which Erik explains to his attorney the abuse within the Menendez household: “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…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.”

Koch on how he prepared to portray Erik: “I listened to [Erik] 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 on how his parents didn’t want him to be an actor: Nivola’s parents are actors Alessandro Nivola and Emily Mortimer.

“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.”

[Photo Credit: Peggy Sirota for Variety Magazine – Video Credit: Variety/YouTube]

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