Oliver Jackson-Cohen: An Actor Who Has To Be Seen To Be Believed

Oliver Jackson-Cohen is in sunny Los Angeles on a break from filming The Haunting of Bly Manor, the second installment of Netflix’s hit horror anthology series The Haunting of Hill House, in Vancouver. Instead of relaxing poolside or catching up with friends he hasn’t seen since he began shooting the series in September, the rising British star is dutifully promoting his new horror film (we’re sensing a trend here), The Invisible Man.

Jackson-Cohen, 33, plays the title character in the film, based on H.G. Wells’ 1897 novel about a scientist who discovers a way to change a body’s refractive index so that it doesn’t absorb or reflect light, thus appearing to be invisible. A 1933 screen adaptation starred British actor Claude Rains, incorporating what were state-of-the art special effects, and has since become a monster classic for Universal Pictures.

Updated with a 21^st century sensibility, Universal’s newest iteration of The Invisible Man delves into contemporary matters like domestic abuse and toxic masculinity. The film’s protagonist is The Handmaid’s Tale’s Elisabeth Moss, who plays Cecilia Kass, domestic partner of a successful and narcissistic inventor. Cecilia has been subjected to emotional and physical abuse by her controlling partner Adrian Griffin (Jackson-Cohen) for years. She finally musters the courage to escape their remote Northern California seaside compound. Hiding out at the home of a friend, she learns that Adrian has committed suicide but she soon begins to suspect the late inventor is merely disguised in the most clandestine of costumes. Fighting an enemy that cannot be seen and trying to convince those around her that her ex is still present proves daunting but the newly liberated Cecilia is determined to become the master of her own domain once and for all. The film also stars Harriet Dyer, Aldis Hodge, Michael Dorman and Storm Reid. Made for a small budget of approximately $7 million, the film is projected to take in $18-20 million domestically opening weekend.

Resembling a 2.0 version of fellow Brit Clive Owen, Jackson-Cohen says he relished playing such a devilishly brilliant but hateful brut but more importantly, he is pleased the film’s storyline adds to the current conversation about toxic masculinity. He’s a bit reluctant to discuss the mechanics of his character’s appearance on screen, though. Jonathan Dearing (Upgrade, I Am Mother) led the key team at Cutting Edge, which created the visual effects for filmmaker Leigh Whannell (Insidious: Chapter 3, Upgrade), who wrote the screenplay and directed the film.

After a full day of interviews in which he’s been repeatedly asked what he would do if he actually had the power to be invisible, Cohen-Jackson confesses he still hasn’t come up with what he considers a sufficient answer.

 “I feel like my brain goes to the darkest places,” he replies with a laugh. “It’s never good.”

The character of The Invisible Man is part of Universal Pictures’ family of classic movie Monsters, which include Dracula, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein’s Monster, The Bride of Frankenstein and The Creature from the Black Lagoon. This Blumhouse-produced film marks the first of a new generation of Universal Monsters films that will be rooted in the horror genre, with no restrictions on budget, rating or genre, according to the company. They won’t be part of a shared interconnected universe like The Avengers films or the Star Wars franchise, for example, but instead each will stand on its own. The Invisible Man is the first of the gate, shepherded by horrormeister Jason Blum (The Purge, Paranormal Activity) of Blumhouse Productions.

Angela Dawson: When you first signed on to star in The Invisible Man, what were your expectations?

Jackson-Cohen: I didn’t really know what I expected. I hadn’t thought about how’d they do the invisible bit at all. But I thought the script was so brilliant; the crux of the story is about domestic abuse and about women not being believed. The fact that he grounded this story, he’s taken this monster—he’s not the boogeyman—he’s created this real-life person who’s entirely plausible. I thought it was such a great concept. I just had to do my job regardless of how much you actually see [The Invisible Man]. I had to do my job as you would with anything, which was doing an awful lot of research. That was quite the experience. I felt a little bit ashamed, really, because I was so clueless as to how prevalent this is, and how many women and men have experienced this or know someone who has experienced this or is still experiencing this, and gets stuck in these horrific cycles. That was quite alarming. So, it was a combination of trying to do that and we felt a certain responsibility to tell this story and this dynamic in a truthful way.

It didn’t really occur to me about how much time I was onscreen or that I really cared how much he was scene, or not. I just wanted him to be truthful and disturbing because I think we’ve all come across people like this. Anyone who’s narcissistic or has multiple personality disorder, it just felt very important that we tell that story.

Dawson: What was it like shooting the tense dinner scene with Elisabeth Moss? Is Adrian trying to win Cecilia back or is he simply trying to manipulate her?

Jackson-Cohen: So much is going on. What Adrian wants is … he’s getting off on the fact that he believes that he can have her back. There’s also a part of him that desperately needs her back. One of the interesting things I found out in my research is anyone who’s a narcissist, what this psychologist said in an interview, the worst thing you can do is leave a narcissist, because it’s to do with, “How dare you leave me? How dare you make me feel hurt? How dare you do this to me?” So, the element and degree and need for revenge is so huge. We spoke about what Adrian wants. What I brought to the table is that he wants to do have this lovely dinner and then he wants to take her downstairs [to his lab] and lock her up. It was all part of making her pay for what she did to him. That’s a truthful account to of what goes through these people’s heads.

Dawson: Shooting a dinner scene is always complicated technically because you have to get reverse angles and keep the audience interested. Did you shoot it over a period of days?

Jackson-Cohen: Yeah. The original scene felt like they took a while. The takes were 12-13 minutes long. It’s been cut down to move the story along. Originally, it was a lot longer. There were also parts throughout the movie that we also shot. It was intense. It was all night shoots. But it was fun. I was working with Lizzie. She’s just phenomenal. To work with an actor where you stare at them and get so much was so gratifying. I was so lucky.

Dawson: This film is the first in the new Universal Monsters reboots of their classic monster films. So, there’s a lot of opportunities that could come up for you. You’ve already been in a TV series about Dracula. Would you want to tackle Frankenstein next?

Jackson-Cohen: I’ll do them all! Lee has done something really clever by revisiting this property and doing it in this way. It’s a testament to him and how his mind works. It feels like the right way to do it. We don’t need another version of The Invisible Man as this kind of creature; we’ve had that. Let’s respect that we’ve already had that. Let’s move it on. That’s what Lee’s done. Hopefully, that’s what they’ll continue to do with the rest of the monsters because it’s based on these sort-of character-driven stories.

Dawson: You’re playing this villain Adrian Griffin and, though the character isn’t sympathetic, the audience comes to understand how he operates. He has this psychotic obsession with this woman. What is it about villains, in general, that appeal to you as an actor?

Jackson-Cohen: There is this interesting side that we, as a collective, like to ignore about the human psyche. It’s dark and it’s ugly. We try the best that we can to be good people but all of that exists inside us, so definitely, as an actor, it’s interesting to explore and to be able to exorcise that part of yourself that you rightfully have to keep in check.

Dawson: It also goes back to H.G. Wells and his original story. Did you review the original source material? This film is quite a departure from that but were you curious?

Jackson-Cohen: I am curious but, as you say, [the script] was such a departure. I’d never read Wells’ The Invisible Man, but I watched the 1933 film. I’d seen that years ago. But I didn’t feel the need to revisit it because of what Lee’s done, and what we’ve done, here is so different from any iteration of anything that’s come before, that it felt unnecessary. I felt I’d rather spend my time researching the mindset of these [narcissistic] people.

Dawson: You shot this in Australia. How much time did you spend there during production?

Jackson-Cohen: I was there the whole time. We’re trying to be quite careful about what we say about how we shot it but I was on set nearly every day. So, I was there a lot.

Dawson: What’s happening with The Haunting of Bly Manor, in which you play a different character from Season one?

Jackson-Cohen: I leave in an hour to return to Vancouver. We’re supposed to wrap this coming Saturday. It’s a great story. It’s based on Henry James’ Turn of the Screw. [Creator and director] Mike Flanagan has done what he does brilliantly, which is he takes something and switches it around, very much like what Lee does. I’m really excited to be able to see it. I had to wrap early on this movie to go to Vancouver [to shoot Bly Manor] and I’ve been there since September shooting that. So, I’ll be done on Saturday. Then, I’m going to schedule a nervous breakdown because I’m so tired.

Dawson: There’s been a lot of speculation which actor will be cast to take on James Bond in that franchise. Do you have any desire to play the iconic spy?

Jackson-Cohen: I’m too emotional. Would you have Bond cry the whole time?

Dawson: This is 2020.

Jackson-Cohen: (laughing) Yeah, we can have a woke Bond.