Chris Cooper has built an illustrious career in movies, appearing in everything from American Beauty to The Bourne Identity to The Muppets. Along the way he even picked up a Supporting Actor Oscar for the film Adaptation. Now he can be seen on TV in Season 2 of the Amazon Prime series Homecoming as Leonard Geist, the CEO of Geist Group who is discussed but never seen in Season 1. But Cooper’s elusive Geist isn’t exactly the corporate big-wig viewers might have expected after watching the first season.
That ability to make unique choices and create a singular character is part of Cooper’s process, and one he used to create Leonard Geist. Cooper sat down virtually with CBR and other outlets to discuss the work that went into creating his mysterious character.
Cooper indicated his interest in joining Homecoming stemmed from the opportunity to delve into his character. "So Leonard Geist is presented as this creator/CEO of Geist Industries,” Cooper explained. “We know nothing about him, I don't believe [from Season 1].… Season 2 introduces this man, and I hope we came up with an idea of Leonard Geist that is perhaps totally different from what the viewer might anticipate. So, coming up with an idea of the character and his background, developing that gave me a lot to work with.
Cooper noted that there were a lot of open questions that had to be asked and answered for him to create Leonard Geist. "Who is this guy?" Cooper queried. "I mean, he's been built up that he's CEO and created this big industry. So, what kind of guy is he? …And we had discussions about, throughout the series, what is this guy about, what is his look? And I think it will be quite a surprise."
Cooper also noted that, as an actor who mostly works in movies, developing a character over the course of multiple episodes in a TV show was a unique experience. "I haven't done something like this in a long time," Cooper said. "We used to call it mini-series, and I haven't done them since the late '80s. So this was a great, great challenge and I think it gives a chance for a character to unfold further than in feature work.
"I think my homework is the same," he added. "I don't see any difference in the work, or how to go about it. I give every character a full background that the audience will never have heard mention of what I come up with to feed my character. And I must say, the homework for me, the creating of the character is half the fun."
Fortunately, Homecoming filmed chronologically, something Cooper was grateful for as it enabled him to track his character’s relationships as they developed. "You don't usually shoot chronologically," Cooper observed, "any film or limited series, so it was essential [for Homecoming]. There was a point that I discovered in Audrey [Temple played by Hong Chau] and Leonard's relationship that I had to know about. And the discovery within the scenes completely changed my attitude, or clarified my attitude, and change in dealing with Audrey and... what I discovered she's all about."
While Geist makes some questionable choices over the course of the second season, Cooper sees those choices as essential to telling a compelling story. "I mean, [Homecoming] is storytelling," Cooper said. "It’s storytelling and what is going to make drama but the conflicts? We'll see Leonard's position and his take on what's being done with this serum, this berry, and what he has to do in order to counter what’s being done…"
Starring Janelle Monae, Hong Chau, Joan Cusack, Chris Cooper and Stephan James, the seven-episode second season of Homecoming is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.