“He’s a mystery character, he’s the CEO, the creator of Geist Industries, however we find out that he’s not a CEO type,” reveals Chris Cooper about his mysterious new role on psychological thriller “Homecoming.” Watch our exclusive video interview with Cooper above.
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Amazon Prime Video’s critically acclaimed “Homecoming” is back for a second season without leading lady Julia Roberts (who has stayed on as a producer on the show), this time starring Janelle Monae as Jackie, a woman who wakes up stranded in a rowboat with no memories of what has happened to her. The series is a taut seven episodes of 30 minutes each, following Jackie as she uncovers the mystery around her past and the continuation of the first season story line of the nefarious Geist Corporation’s testing of an experimental drug that wipes the memories of PTSD-suffering military veterans.
Oscar winner Cooper co-stars as CEO Leonard Geist alongside Joan Cusack as a high-ranking military official, with Stephan James and Hong Chau reprising their roles as Walter Cruz and Audrey Temple. As Cooper admits, what attracted him most to the part was that this was not your typical immoral CEO that we have seen countless times before. “He started this business with honesty, simplicity,” the actor says. “He never expected it to grow and he became so disillusioned with the CEO way of life.”
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“There may well be a lot of CEOs that don’t keep their eyes on the business,” he further explains. “I think we get hints of that in the news and the life of luxury that some of these CEOs can live.”
Cooper was very keen to be involved in the show’s second season, which he believes is just as strong as, if not better than, the program’s first outing. “Having seen the first season and loving every aspect of it, the time with a 30 minute drama, the pace, the writing, the casting, the soundtrack was a knockout,” he explains, “I got the info that they’re introducing new characters and this new Geist character and I got to read all seven scripts,” he says, explaining that it did not take much more to convince him to sign on to the show. “What got me involved in this business is the idea of human behavior. Just simple human behavior,” he says. “Making an old-time movie. This reminds me of touches of that.”
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