Rev. Mike Cook portrays both a priest and a bartender in recently released movie nominated for five Academy Awards
The movie “The Holdovers” was recently nominated for five Academy Awards.
The film is directed by Alexander Payne and is cast with such names as Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa, and Carrie Preston on the top billing list of performers and just down the way on that same “top billing list” is Alexander Cook, the stage name of the Rev. Mike Cook, pastor of Philippi Christian Church in Deltaville.
“That was the first time in my career that I have made a top billing list,” said the Rev. Cook in his office at Philippi on Monday. “I also have been told that it was one of the first times in history of modern day acting that an actor was cast for two parts in the same movie.”
When Cook auditioned for a role in the movie, Director Alexander Payne liked him so much that he cast him in two parts as the priest, which is understandable him being a minister, but in contrast, he won the role as the bartender too.
Acting Career
Cook, 65, ties to Deltaville go back to his childhood when his family owned one of those cinderblock, built on a slab, no heat or air-conditioning 1960s summer cottages on the river.
At an early age, he fell in love with acting, studied at the Carnegie-Mellon University School of Drama in Pittsburgh and received his BFA in Acting in 1980.
He started acting professionally in 1975 when he landed his first paying role at Baltimore’s Center Stage and worked in the profession full-time until 1988 when he entered seminary. He did a lot of stunt work in movies, classical Shakespearean regional theater work on stage in New York and “low” list billings in movies.
In 2005, Cook was called as minister to Philippi. In 2010 he directed and acted in the play “Art” for the Lancaster Players in White Stone. He left Deltaville in 2011 and moved to Boston, resuming his professional acting career. During that time in 2016, Cook landed a part in the movie “Finest Hours” working with such film stars as Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster and others. He worked professionally through 2022 for a total of 22 years in the acting profession.
After landing the role in “The Holdovers” in December 2021, he was called in the fall of 2021 to return to Philippi. He made the movie in Boston in February 2022 and it was released in 2023.
The Movie
“The Holdovers” is a Hollywood film filmed in Massachusetts and about a group of unlikely individuals in 1970 who find themselves spending Christmas together in an empty New England elite academy.
It has been nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing. The Oscar nomination was announced on Jan. 28 and the 96th annual Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, March 10, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.
“The movie was being filmed in Boston, which was where I was living,” said Cook. “Hollywood film companies like to use local talent in a market like Boston because it cuts transportation costs.”
“I auditioned for two parts, thinking I might get one,” he said. “Alexander Payne liked me so much that against the advice of the casting company he gave me two roles.
“I had people who have watched the movie tell me they recognized me as the priest but when I asked if they recognized me in the bartender role they were not aware it was me,” said Cook. “It was just a thrill to be doing two different parts with a director as amazing as Alexander Payne.
“It was also great working with Paul Giamatti,” he said. “It is understood in the business that actors on the set reach out to one another in a friendly manner. We shook hands and had some friendly conversation. Over the years I’ve shaken hands with Robert De Niro, Jennifer Lawrence and many others.
“The film is unique and beautiful and Alexander Payne went to every effort to make it look like it was 1970 and an old film,” said Cook. “One of the leading student roles was played by Dominic Sessa. After numerous auditions for the part, Payne was not satisfied with any of the casting so he went into local schools and Sessa was found and given the role.”
Cook said “The Holdovers” is probably his last acting job as the business is 90% looking for work and 10% working. So, he is home now in Deltaville.
“I love Deltaville and I am home,” he said emphatically. He does plan to use some of this knowledge and skills gained from years in the film profession as he has started a film company for YouTube and other venues named Washed Production featuring artistic and spiritual videos surrounding boats, boatbuilding and sailing.
The Philippi Christian Church family invites anyone interested in coming to the church on Thursday, Feb. 8, at 6 p.m. to view the movie for free, and enjoy soup and salad and fellowship. Top billing Actor Alexander Cook will be there to field any questions.
