Emory Isaac Cohen (born March 13, 1990) is an American actor. He made his feature film debut in ''

Afterschool ''Afterschool'' is a 2008 American psychological drama film written and directed by Antonio Campos (director), Antonio Campos and stars Ezra Miller in their film debut. Filmed at the Pomfret School in Pomfret, Connecticut, ''Afterschool'' premiere ...

'' (2008). He is best known for his roles as AJ Cross in

Derek Cianfrance Derek M. Cianfrance (; born January 23, 1974) is an American film director, cinematographer, screenwriter, and editor. He is best known for writing and directing the films ''Blue Valentine (film), Blue Valentine'' (2010), ''The Place Beyond the P ...

's film ''

The Place Beyond the Pines ''The Place Beyond the Pines'' is a 2012 American Epic film, epic Crime film, crime drama film directed by Derek Cianfrance with a screenplay by Cianfrance, Ben Coccio and Darius Marder from a story by Cianfrance and Coccio. The film tells thre ...

'' (2012), Tony Fiorello in John Crowley's film ''

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

'' (2015), and Homer in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series '' The OA'' (2016).

Early life

Cohen was born in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, the only child of Donna (née Ackerman), a director of a preschool, and Noel Cohen, a music teacher. He is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and is a fourth generation

New Yorker New Yorker may refer to: * A resident of New York: ** A resident of New York City and its suburbs *** List of people from New York City ** A resident of the New York (state), State of New York *** Demographics of New York (state) * ''The New Yor ...

whose ancestors immigrated from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Cohen made his stage debut as Mr. Peachum in a school production of ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a 1928 German "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, '' The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François V ...

'' at the Robert F. Wagner Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology, under the direction of Alma Whitney and Oskar Sarasky. He graduated from Elisabeth Irwin High School in 2008 and received a full scholarship to study acting at the University of the Arts in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. He trained at UArts for two years before dropping out to study acting in New York.

Career

Cohen made his feature film debut in ''

'' in 2008, opposite

Ezra Miller Ezra Matthew Miller (born September 30, 1992) is an American actor. Their feature film debut was in '' Afterschool'' (2008), which they followed by starring in the dramas '' We Need to Talk About Kevin'' (2011) and '' The Perks of Being a Wall ...

. The film premiered at the

2008 Cannes Film Festival The 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 14 to 25 May 2008. American actor and filmmaker Sean Penn served as jury president for the main competition. French filmmaker Laurent Cantet won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for th ...

and received positive reviews from critics. His next role was in the 2010 drama film '' The Hungry Ghosts''. In 2012, he co-starred in

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

'' opposite

Bradley Cooper Bradley Charles Cooper (born January 5, 1975) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and three Grammy Awards. In addition, he has been nominated for twelve Acade ...

and

Dane DeHaan Dane William DeHaan ( ; born 1985 or 1986) is an American actor. His roles include Andrew Detmer in ''Chronicle'' (2012), Jason Glanton in '' The Place Beyond the Pines'' (2012), Lucien Carr in '' Kill Your Darlings'' (2013), Harry Osborn / Gre ...

. The film received generally positive reviews and was a box office success. He had a recurring role during the first season of '' Smash'', playing Leo, the son of

Debra Messing Debra Lynn Messing (born August 15, 1968) is an American actress. After graduating from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Messing starred in the television series ''Ned and Stacey'' on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox (1995–1997) an ...

's character, and starred as

Wendell Pierce Wendell Edward Pierce (born December 8, 1962) is an American actor and businessman. Having trained at Juilliard School, Pierce rose to prominence as a character actor of stage and screen. He first Breakthrough role, gained recognition portraying ...

's lover in the independent film '' Four''. In 2014, he appeared in the drama '' The Gambler'' playing a

tennis player Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

and in the independent film '' Beneath the Harvest Sky''. In 2015, he portrayed Tony, the love interest of Eilis, played by

Saoirse Ronan Saoirse Una Ronan ( ; born 12 April 1994) is an American-born Irish actress. Primarily known for her work in period dramas, she has received various accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, with nominations for four Academy Awards and sev ...

, in ''

''.

Rex Reed Rex Taylor Reed (born October 2, 1938) is an American film critic, journalist, and media personality. Raised throughout the southern United States and educated at Louisiana State University, Reed moved to New York City in the early 1960s to begi ...

praised his "wonderful, warm and deeply touching performance". In ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', Kristopher Tapley wrote that ''Brooklyn'' offered "another reminder that Emory Cohen is one of the most exciting actors of his generation." Cohen had a leading role in the 2015 independent film '' Stealing Cars'', opposite

Felicity Huffman Felicity Kendall Huffman (born December 9, 1962) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Lynette Scavo in the ABC comedy-drama ''Desperate Housewives'' and her role as Sabrina "Bree" Osbourne, a transgender woman, in the film ''Trans ...

and

William H. Macy William Hall Macy Jr. (born March 13, 1950) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. He is a two-time Emmy Award and four-time Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award winner, and has been nominated for an Acade ...

. He received positive reviews for his role as Billy Wyatt. In 2016, he starred in the

series '' The OA''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Emory 1990 births Living people 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors Jewish American male actors American people of Russian-Jewish descent Male actors from Manhattan University of the Arts (Philadelphia) alumni Little Red School House alumni 21st-century American Jews