CooperTalk

Steve Cooper talks with actor Scott Lowell. Scott is best known for his role as Ted Schmidt in Showtime’s popular and critically acclaimed Queer as Folk for which he was twice nominated for a Prism Award. He moved to Los Angeles in 1998 and quickly found himself busy in a number of successful commercial campaigns, guest roles on sit-coms and a lead in a sci-fi television film. He has appeared on stage at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, A Noise Within, Pasadena Playhouse, The Furious Theatre Company, Artists Repertory Theatre (Portland,OR), in a number of independent films and on the television series Bones where he has appeared as Dr. Douglas Filmore in multiple episodes as well as many other series including CSI, Castle, CSI: NY, Heroes, NCIS, Criminal Minds and Leverage. He also has various voices in the animated series American Dad and recently appeared on Broadway and in London with Bradley Cooper in the stage production of The Elephant Man. 

Steve Cooper talks with actor Joanna Going. Joanna appeared in soap opera roles in the late 1980s, most notably as Lisa Grady on Another World from 1987 to 1989. She went on to portray lead character Victoria Winters on the 1991 primetime series Dark Shadows. She later starred in short-lived television series Going to Extremes and guest-starred on Columbo, Spin City, The Outer Limits, and Law & Order. She has also starred in the number of feature films. She made her film debut in Wyatt Earp and later had major roles in Eden, Keys to Tulsa, Inventing the Abbotts, and Still Breathing. Her biggest role may be in the 1998 film version of Phantoms. In the 2000s, she starred in several television films and guest-starred on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Criminal Minds, and Mad Men. She also appeared opposite Sean Penn in the 2011 film The Tree of Life, her first role in a major motion picture since 2003's Runaway Jury. In 2014, Going starred as First Lady Tricia Walker in the second season of Netflix political series House of Cards. She later was cast in the DirecTV series Kingdom.

Steve Cooper talks with actor James Morrison. James I best known for his role as Bill Buchanan on Fox's hit series 24. He is a highly accomplished stage actor doing theatre for over 30 years and winning many awards including three Drama-Logue trophies in Los Angeles and recently directed the documentary Showing up. His numerous television credits including Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Quantum Leap, L.A. Law, Frasier, Space: Above and Beyond, The X-Files, Six Feet Under, The West Wing, NCIS, The Mentalist, Suits, Hawthorne, Those Who Kill, Blue and Revenge and has appeared in films such as Catch Me If You Can, Raspberry Magic, Jarhead and Falling Down. 

Steve Cooper talks with actor Amy Hill. Amy may be best known for her involvement on Margaret Cho's short-lived sitcom All-American Girl in the role of grandmother Yung-Hee better known as Grandma or Grandma Kim. A little after All-American Girl was cancelled she would later be cast in the role of Kay Ohara on Maybe This Time which would eventually lead her to be working and co-starring with TV legend Betty White and former All American Girl co-star Ashley Johnson. Some of her notable films that she starred in would be Max Keeble's Big Move, Big Fat Liar, The Cat in the Hat, Let's Go To Prison, Lilo & Stitch, and as Dr. Barrenbottom in 2013's Big Gay Love, but her most notable film role was as Sue in the film 50 First Dates. She has had many notable guest starring roles on shows such as Night Court, Six Feet Under, Desperate Housewives, King of the Hill, The Sarah Silverman Program, and My Wife & Kids and has had many notable recurring roles on TV shows as well such as the lesbian daughter of D. L. Hughley's neighbor (played by Pat Morita) on The Hughleys, The upstairs neighbor of Monica and Rachel on Friends, Mrs. DePaulo on That's so Raven, Mama Tohru on Jackie Chan Adventures, Mrs. Hasagawa on Lilo & Stitch: The Series, Penny Candy on The Puzzle Place, Mah Mah the adopted mother of Francine on American Dad!, Dr. Lauren Brown on General Hospita, and Suji on The Naked Truth. In the final episode of season six of Seinfeld, she played the part of Frank Costanza's long lost girlfriend during his Korean War service.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Jerry Hauck. Jerry is an LA based actor who has been performing in TV, Film, and commercials for 30 years. His numerous sitcom credits include Murphy Brown, Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, That 70’s Show, My Name Is Earl, The Middle and Hot in Cleveland. No stranger to dramatic TV as well, he has appeared in popular shows such as LA Law, ER, Six Feet Under, House M.D., Monk, and Scandal. His feature film credits include I'll Do Anything, Cobb, Garfield, Matchstick Men, and Saving Mr. Banks. Still busy as ever, this year he has been seen on True Detective, How To Get Away With Murder, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Blunt Talk, and the acclaimed docudrama, Soaked In Bleach.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Michael Bunin. Michael is an American actor perhaps best known for playing the role of Kenny on the TBS sitcom My Boys. A prolific and highly successful commercial actor during the early part of his career, starring in at least 50 national commercials, the transition to the single camera comedy on TBS was a natural and seamless next step. He has also guest starred on several hit TV shows including Scrubs, Bad Judge, Mad Men, Modern Family, Perception, iCarly, Rules of Engagement, Law & Order, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Crisis and Masters of Sex.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Beth Littleford. Beth won widespread notoriety during her four years on The Daily Show. She ultimately left for network television spending two years on ABC's Spin City. Other series regular roles include Nancy Blaford on Method and Red and Suzanne Berger on The Hard Times of RJ Berger. She has had recurring roles on Desperate Housewives, Rules of Engagement, One on One, Life with Bonnie and the Cleveland Show. She has guest-starred on many others shows including The Mindy Project, CSI, CSI: Miami, Melissa and Joey, Frasier, The West Wing, Boston Public, Still Standing and Without a Trace. In the past she was a fixture on shows like Politically Incorrect, Hollywood Squares, Talk Soup and most I Love the...shows on VH-1. She recently starred on Disney's hit sitcom, Dog with a Blog which has received multiple Emmy nominations and has been in numerous national commercials.

Steve Cooper talks with comic Brian McDaniel. Brian can be seen in the new Entourage movie, as a regular contributor on CBS’ The Talk and of course he was a correspondent on TMZ for 8 years. He grew up in Prince George's county Maryland, riding the bus to school where comedy was the ultimate factor in deciding social status. Mostly, he just tried to avoid being embarrassed by the popular kids and the foul­mouthed big­banged girls that followed them. But he was learning by osmosis, picking up on what was funny and what was just swagger, which jokes made everybody laugh, and which ones just unified the cool clique in their superiority. He couples this experience with the pop culture expertise of a TMZ veteran to write material that's incisive, ridiculous, and surprising that he performs all over the Los Angeles area and on the road.

Steve Cooper talks with writer/host/gossip columnist A.J. Benza. A.J. is a regular contributor to Playboy and Penthouse. He was New York City’s most celebrated gossip columnist in the 1990s, writing and editing both Hot Copy and Downtown columns for the Daily News (New York). He also continues to be a regular on the Howard Stern Sirius radio show. His television credits include hosting and producing E!’s Mysteries & Scandals, co-hosting Game Show Network’s highest-rated series, High Stakes Poker, and creating, producing, writing, and hosting his own late night talk show, A.J. After Hours. He recently released a critically acclaimed memoir title 74' and Sunny.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Richard Gunn. Richard is best known for his starring role in James Cameron's Dark Angel for which he won a People's Choice Award in his early 20's, after taking a break from the entertainment industry to live on a ranch for several years in his 30's, he is back and has now become a critic and fan favorite as the iconic hero Chief of Police John Sanders in the cable hit Granite Flats opposite Christopher Lloyd, Parker Posey, and Carey Elwes. He also had a recurring role on Hemlock Grove and has guest starred in many shows including The Mentalist, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Dexter.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Brett Cullen. Brett's lengthy and successful career started with his first television series, The Chisholms. Since then he has appeared in such TV shows such as  The Incredible Hulk, Tales from the Crypt, M*A*S*H, V, Matlock, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Ally McBeal, Walker, Texas Ranger, Once and Again, Without a Trace, Cold Case, The Mountain, Monk, CSI: Miami, NCIS, Desperate Housewives, Pepper Dennis, Lost, Ghost Whisperer, Private Practice, Ugly Betty, The Mentalist, Castle, Damages, White Collar, Burn Notice and Friday Night Lights and in 2013, Cullen was cast in the television series Devious Maids and in 2014 Cullen had recurring roles on the television shows Revenge, Criminal Minds, and Under the Dome. He has also appeared in the HBO mini-series From the Earth to the Moon and numerous movies including The Replacements, The Dark Knight Rises, Apollo 13, Ghost Rider, 42, Red Dawn, The Runaways, Gridiron Gang and many, many more.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Jillian Armenante. Jillian is best known for playing the role of Donna Kozlowski on the TV show Judging Amy. Her feature-film credits include Contagion, Bad Teacher, A Mighty Heart, North Country and Girl, Interrupted. On television, she has made guest appearances on several shows including Shameless, Medium, Party Down, Castle, The Closer, Private Practice, Grey's Anatomy, Las Vegas, ER, Six Feet Under, The West Wing, and Northern Exposure. Also very active on stage, in Seattle, she was a member of Annex Theatre for eight years, where she appeared in The Fatty Arbuckle Spookhouse Review, Bessemer's Spectacles, Tattoo Girl, and Hamlet The Musical. At Annex, she directed Triplets In Uniform, Exquisite Torture, and Running From Boomerangs. She was the Associate Artistic Director for Alice B. Theatre where she produced Pretty, Witty and Gay and Memory Tricks by Marga Gomez at the Broadway Performance Hall and she played Melony in a stage version of The Cider House Rules which was performed at The Atlantic Theater in New York City, the Seattle Repertory Theatre, and at The Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. For this role she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award, received a Garland Award and a Theatre World Award for Debut on the New York Stage. The show also received a Theatre L.A. Ovation Award for Best Production in a Larger Theatre. She currently is a recurring character in ABC's Fresh Off the Boat and stars, produced, directed and co-wrote Kittens in a Cage. 

Steve Cooper talks with actor Willie Garson. Willie is best known for his roles as Stanford Blatch on Sex and the City and as Mozzie in White Collar. His other television appearances include Mr. Belvedere, My Two Dads, Coach, Quantum Leap, Monk, Boy Meets World, Girl Meets World, Ally McBeal, Party of Five, Star Trek: Voyager, Special Unit 2, Just Shoot Me!, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Friends, The X-Files, Cheers, Yes, Dear, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Pushing Daisies, Stargate SG-1, Wizards of Waverly Place, CSI: Miami, Mental, Spin City and Taken and co-starred in the 2007 HBO series John from Cincinnati. He has also appeared in three movies from the Farrelly brothers—Kingpin, There's Something About Mary and Fever Pitch. His other film credits include Groundhog Day, Just Like Heaven, The Rock, Fortress 2: Re-Entry, Being John Malkovich, Freaky Friday, Labor Pains, and Out Cold and made a cameo in the end credits of Jackass Number Two, with the full context of the cameo being explained in Jackass 2.5.

Steve Cooper talks with actor/producer Natalie Burn. Natalie is a fast-rising Hollywood actress, dancer, Prima Ballerina, choreographer, fighter, writer, singer, composer, model and a producer who has a resume that is genuinely unique. Currently starring in Awaken, a feature film that she created and produced, co-starring Darryl Hannah and Edward Furlong, Burn has also recently had key roles in Expendables 3, Killer Mermaid, Mechanic Resurrection and lead roles in Karla, Downhill and Ghosts of Garip in addition to prominent spots in several Russian films like Brigada Naslednik and several TV series like Petrovich in the last decade. 

Steve Cooper talks with actor/comic Stephen Kramer Glickman. Stephen is best known as Gustavo Rocque on the Nickelodeon television series Big Time Rush. In 2007, he was cast as Shrek in Shrek the Musical that opened on Broadway. He hosted the popular YouTube show Equals Three for one day while Ray William Johnson was out recording his album as the persona YourFavoriteMartian also found on YouTube. He has also voiced Billy Bob in an animated web series named "Trailer Trash" produced by Stupid Factory Studios and Titmouse. He runs a clothing line called Giant Creature whose proceeds go to help anti-bullying, appears at the top comedy clubs in LA regularly and co-hosts the popular podcast #DateFails.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Deirdre Lovejoy. Deirdre is best known for her role on the HBO television series The Wire as Rhonda Pearlman. A familiar face to stage, she appeared recently on Broadway in the sold out run of Nora Ephron’s Tony Award winning Lucky Guy, starring Tom Hanks and has other Broadway credits including John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation plus numerous Off-Broadway and regional theatre credits. She has also appeared in the series Girls, Orange is the New Black, Bones, American Horror Story, Body of Proof, Private Practice, The Forgotten, The Medium, Criminal Minds, Lie to Me, The Closer, Nip/Tuck, Saving Grace, Strong Medicine, Outlaw, Close to Home, Shark, The Protector, The Lion's Den, The West Wing, Law & Order, Law & Order Special Victims Unit, Law & Order Criminal Intent, Cold Case, Close to Home, Numbers, Without a Trace, Brothers and Sisters, Eli Stone, NYPD Blue, Ed, Third Watch, Perfect Murder Perfect Town: The Jon Benet Ramsey Story, The Kennedys of Massachusetts and many more and films including the upcoming Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (directed by Ang Lee), Thirsty, Step Up, Bad Teacher, The Stepfather, Lionhead, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Gloria and Eric, Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, Random Hearts, Sour Grapes, Shaft, and The Freshman.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Lori Alan. Lori is perhaps best known for her award-winning voice-over work. Recently honored by her peers at the First Annual Voice Arts Awards (the Academy Awards for Voice-Overs) she took first-place prizes for Outstanding Body Of Work and Outstanding National Television Commercial. She starred as Diane Simmons on Family Guy, Pearl the Whale on SpongeBob: Squarepants, and Sue Richards, The Invisible Woman, on Marvel Comics' The Fantastic Four, among many other fantastic animated roles (Monster's University, Toy Story 3, Despicable Me 2, WALL.E, Henry Hugglemonster, Metal Gear Solid, Cow and Chicken, Animaniacs, and Futurama) and a long, successful commercial career. She also has firm roots in theatre, where she's thrived for over three decades. She most recently mounted a smash solo show, Lori Alan: The Musical, and appeared alongside Paul Reubens in The Pee-Wee Herman Show. Of her role as Queen Celia in the hit musical Sneaux!, Backstage West proclaimed, "Lori Alan might give Carol Burnett pause!" She originated the role of Mae in the award-winning musical Reefer Madness, a performance that earned raves from Kenny Morse of CBS Radio, who called her "a standout whose talent will take her very far". On TV from roles on the gripping Showtime drama Ray Donovan, to the hilarious Comedy Central gem Workaholics, to the deliciously naughty Desperate Housewives, her energy and natural essence flow effortlessly from genre to genre. A true character actress in every sense of the word, when Lori speaks, the world listens. She delves deeply into her material, emerging with the power to make the audience laugh and cry in the same moment. Her television career has flourished with appearances on Bones, Southland, CSI, 90210, Law and Order (both LA and the original), and every other show imaginable.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Elaine Hendrix. Elaine currently stars in the FX comedy Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll.  She’s also been in many movies including The Parent Trap, Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2, Inspector Gadget 2, Superstar, Romy & Michele's High School Reunuion. She is a familiar face to TV too, appearing on hit shows such as Two and a Half Men, The Client List, NCIS: Los Angeles, Castle, The Mentalist, Criminal Minds, and CSI: Miami to name a few and she recurred on the new Beverly Hills 90210 as well as two years on the critically acclaimed CBS series Joan of Arcadia and has been in three holiday TV movies: Anything But Christmas, Mr. St. Nick and The Munster’s Scary Little Christmas.

Steve Cooper talks with actor Ken Davitian. Ken began acting full time in the early 1990s and spent the majority of his career being typecast as a short, fat, bumbling, and sometimes sleazy character in low budget B-movies before gaining small guest spots on television in such series as the HBO sports comedy Arli$$, The Shield and the HBO hit drama Six Feet Under. However in 2006, he would land a role that would dramatically change his life and acting career forever. He auditioned for a supporting role in the Sacha Baron Cohen project Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. The part he was going for was that of Azamat, the stout, rotund production assistant to the naïve, yet endearing, foreign reporter Borat. It was reported that during the audition, he began reading lines in an Eastern dialect of Armenian, prompting a comically entertaining back-and-forth between he and Cohen. Cohen instantly demanded that he be given the part of Azamat. His performance became somewhat of a cult, comedic classic and led him to more roles in feature films like the parody Meet the Spartans, the spy comedy Get Smart, the Oscar winning The Artist and others. His TV credits include It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Hawaii Five-O, Two and a Half Men, Big Time Rush and Ray Donovan. 

Steve Cooper talks with singer Annabella Lwin.  Annabella at the tender age of fourteen, was one of the most photographed, talked about and popular vocalists in the early 80’s with her band, BOW WOW WOW, who enjoyed success with massive hits such as I Want Candy, Do U wanna Hold Me?,  Go Wild in the Country and C30, C60, C90, Go! As well as writing and recording original material as a solo artist, she has been a featured vocalist on numerous transatlantic dance favorites with Tony B (LA’s hottest radio dance DJ) the Utah Saints (England's’ most innovative and popular DJ Duo) and Jason Nevins (Run DMC remixer of Walk this Way.)
 Her songwriting/co‐production brought her collaborations with Guy Chambers (songwriter for Robbie Williams’ chart hits) and seasoned producers such as Michael Lattanzi (Mariah Carey, Paula Abdul, Sly & Robbie, Anastasia.) After doing a commercial for Nike, writing songs for movies such as Desperate But Not Serious (starring Claudia Schiffer and Henry Rollins) and partnering with Mike Bradford (producer of the hits Follow Me by Uncle Kracker, You Get What You Give by the New Radicals, American Bad Ass by Kid Rock) Annabella has written and recorded songs for film: Scandalous with Sir John Gielgud, Phoenix Point starring Angelo Moore of Fishbone and  Salsoul Queen Cecilia Noel, (Cecilia & the Wildclams) Thief of Hearts starring Steven Bauer (Scarface) and produced by Harold Faltemeyer and Sofia Coppola’s 2006 hit Marie Antoinette to name a few.