EXCLUSIVE!!!!

 

COREY JOHNSON

 

Born on May 17, 1961 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, Corey Johnson attended London's Central School of Speech and Drama. In 1993 he appeared as Lou in the movie ‘The Innocent’. In 1999 Corey could be admired as Bruno Decker in the movie ‘Do Not Disturb’. He had between 1992 and 1999 roles in the films ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and ‘The Mummy’ and the TV films ‘A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia’ and ‘Over Here’. Between 1996 and 1999, Corey collaborated on the video games Bud Tucker in Double Trouble, Independence War, Realms of the Haunting, Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror and Shadow Man.

 

He starred in 2001 as Jon Neely in the movie ‘Last Run’. In 2003 Corey played Ed Gray in the movie ‘Out for a Kill’. He starred in 2005 as Christina Middleton in the movie ‘A Sound of Thunder’. In 2006 Corey appeared as Louis J. Nacke, II in the movie ‘United 93’ and as Davis in the movie ‘The Contract’. He played in 2007 the role of Mr. Gaspardi in the movie ‘The All Together’. In 2008 Corey could be admired as Paul Wainsail in the movie ‘The Caller’. He starred in 2009 as Richard 'Dick' Fuld in the TV movie 'The Last Days of Lehman Brothers', as Colonel John Coby in the movie ‘Universal Soldier 5: Regeneration’ and as Tommy Fisher in the movie ‘The Fourth Child’. In 2010 Corey played the role of Axel in the movie ‘Pimp’. He could be admired in 2011 as Thurkettle in the movie ‘Black Gold’. In 2013, Corey could be seen as Consular Official in the movie ‘How I Live Now’ and as Ken Quinn in the movie ‘Captain Phillips’. He played in 2014 the role of Hank Norton in the movie ‘Blood Moon’. In 2018 Corey could be admired as Norm Coburn in the movie ‘A Private War’. He starred in 2019 as Donald Novak in the movie ‘The Coldest Game’ and in 2021 as Colonel Bill Seidel in the movie ‘The Mauritanian’. Between 2000 and 2020 Corey had roles in the films ‘Harrison’s Flowers’, ‘Endgame’, ‘Black Hawk Down’, ‘Hellboy’, ‘7 Seconds’, ‘Rollin’ with the Nines’, ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’, ‘Thick as Thieves’, ‘Kick-Ass’, ‘X-Men: First Class’, ‘The Bourne Legacy’, ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’, ‘Asylum’, ‘Survivor’, ‘Ruby Strangelove Young Witch’, ‘The Cicada Hunk’, ‘Genius’, ‘Jackie’, ‘Megan Leavey’, ‘The Current War’, ‘The Titan’, ‘Hunter Killer’, ‘Radioactive’ and ‘Enemy Lines’, the miniseries ‘Band of Brothers’, ’24: Live Another Day’, ‘Fearless’, ‘The City and the City’ and ‘Devs’ and the TV-Films ‘Impact’, ‘Second Nature’ and ‘Sex, the City and Me’. He collaborated between 2001 and 2018 on the video games Shadow Man: 2econd Coming, Wave Rally, Stuntman, Reign of Fire, Vietcong: First Alpha, Sacred, Constantine, Driver: Parallel Lines, Killzone 2, Kinect Sports, Killzone: Mercenary, Zenobureido 2 and Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country. Between 2006 and 2017, Corey provided his voice as narrator for the TV series documentaries “Lost World”, “The True Story”, “Nova”, “Treasures Decoded”, “Nazi Mega Weapons” and “America: Promised Land”. He had between 1995 and 2015 roles in the plays Absolute Hell, Frost/Nixon, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Enron, A Streetcar Named Desire and Man and Superman. In 2015 Corey appeared in the Norwegian miniseries ‘Kampen om tungtvannet’. He has appeared in the short films ‘Warhol’, ‘The Departure’, ‘The Conversation’ and ‘Swept Under Rug’. He won in 2018 an Honorable Mention at the Independent Short Awards and a Best Actor at the Southern States Indie Film Fest for his role in the short film ‘The Conversation’. He had guest roles in TV series such as “Under the Hammer”, “Casualty”, “Kavanagh QC”, “Nash Bridges”, “Auf Wiedersehen, Pet”, “Celeb”, “Doctor Who” uit 2005, “Spooks”, “Foyle’s War”, “Beaver Falls”, “ComedyShowcase”, “Playhouse Presents”, “Nixon’s the One”, “Utopia”, “Grantchester”, “Crossing Lines”, “Bounty Hunters”, “Strike Back”, “The Windsors”, “The Alienist”, “Deep State” and “Death in Paradise”. Perry from Moov.nl was given the opportunity to speak to Corey Johnson because of an interview for the internet site.

 

001.You sometimes hear that every character that an actor or actress plays contains something of itself. Can you name both a agreement and a

       big difference in character between yourself and Donald Novak from the movie ‘The Coldest Game’ of 2019?

       I agree with that. Donald is a cynic. I am not that myself. But he thought John F. Kennedy was a great man and I think so too. I’m very young and

       childlike at heart. I'm attracted to people who are like that too. Donald is a serious man who lives for his work. He couldn't be a friend of mine.

002.At what point in your career are you the most proud and/or do you keep the best memories?

       The further I get from it, the more I look back on my time in drama school as some of the best times of my life. My closest friends to this day were in

       school with me. There have been times when the work and the actors come together to create something special. For example, I’ve done  a play by

       Arthur Miller. One time, I was doing a play at the same time as my wife. Our shows were both picked by an English newspaper as a weekly "must-

       see". So, that was nice. In terms of my films, I am most proud of the film ‘United 93’ from 2006. After this I never did something like it again. That was

       the most important, most meaningful work I have ever done.

003.What is most important to you: winning an award for your work, whether the press is enthusiastic about your work, or whether the public

       is enthusiastic about your work?

       Prices and press have their own agenda. The public just wants something special. I think of my audience as my last, best director.

004.Over the years you have already worked with the several Hollywood stars. However, who impressed you the most?

       There are quite a few. For example, I see Tom Hanks, with whom I worked on the films ‘Saving Private Ryan’ from 1998 and ‘Captain Phillips’ from

       2013, as the mayor of Hollywood. Nathalie Portman with whom I worked on the film ‘Jackie’ from 2016 had an incredibly difficult job to do with her

       role in the film. Gillian Anderson with whom I worked with in 2014 on the play A Streetcar Named Desire never stopped learning and experimenting.

       While she lost her mind on stage practically every night. She also dealt with some of the most fervent fans I've ever seen. And finally Dame Judi

       Dench with whom I worked with in 1995 on the play Absolute Hell. She is the most human of the actors I've ever worked with. I don't name names,

       but I once asked a director, "Can I ask you something?” He answered, "You just did.” What a asshole was that. The only actors I dream of working

       with are all dead. Like Katharine Hepburn, Laurence Olivier and Spencer Tracy.

005.How do you look back on the movie ‘Do Not Disturb’ from 1999?

       I had just finished shooting the movie ‘The Mummy’ in Morocco when I left for Amsterdam to shoot the movie ‘Do Not Disturb’. Going to Amsterdam

       was an eye-opening as Morocco was a very different place. Amsterdam is one of my most favorite cities in the world. My sister lived in the town of

       Abcoude for a few years, so I was already familiar with the city Amsterdam. For the film, it was the first time I worked with William Hurt (Walter

       Richmond in the film, ed.), who is one of my all-time favorite actors. Michael Chiklis (Rudolph Hartman in the movie, ed.) and I also had a really great

       time together. And Jennifer Tilly (Cathryn Richmond in the movie, ed.) is just wonderul. Every now and then I send Dick (Maas, the director of the film

       - ed.) an email. I always beg him for a another role. During the movie ‘Do Not Disturb’ he was really good at what he did.

006.What appealed to you so much in the movie ‘The Mauritanian’?

       The movie ‘The Mauritanian’ is directed by Kevin Macdonald. I enjoy working with him. In addition to directing me in the movie ‘The Mauritanian’,

       Kevin also directed me in 2013 for the movie ‘How I Live Now’. I loved doing both films. Sometimes the message of a film is the medium. What an

       audience gets from a movie depends on the audience. Not from the movie.

007.What can we expect from you in the future in showbiz?

       I play the role of General James Gavin in the documentary ‘The Girl Who Wore Freedom’. I am also involved in this as a consultant. For the video

       game Shadow Man Remastered, I vote for the characters Marco Cruz and Milton Pike. In the movie ‘Lair’ I can be seen as Steven Caramore. I also

       have a role in the movie ‘Morbius’.

 

Photo: Kristin Hoebermann

 

Interview: Perry Krootjes