Cohen Holloway
Cohen Holloway feels lucky to be "one of those people who is allowed to do stand-up comedy and serious acting at the same time”. Holloway has carved out a niche for himself blending comedy, compelling dramatic performances, and remarkable impersonation skills. From portraying a not-so-bright cowboy to an unjustly accused criminal, he's all about versatility.
Growing up in Wellington, Holloway honed his comedic instincts by doing impersonations of his classmates as comedic relief, whenever his mischievous personality landed him in hot water. "I had to find a strategy to survive and that was impersonations. I used to impersonate all the kids that beat me up, and then I became their friends, and then I had power".
It wasn’t until Holloway entered a radio competition to sing like Andrew Strong from Irish hit The Commitments, that he got a taste for performance. The impersonation not only won him a gig performing with a cover band, but also led to him forming his own band, Little Creatures.
But performance took a backseat for Holloway after high school, while he took a job in a bank. He recalls being given advice by his uncle, actor Jim Moriarty (Close to Home). “He said, ‘There is no money in acting, Go and stay in the bank’.” But even back then his co-workers noted his sense of humour, He eventually ditched his banking career to enrol in Toi Whakaari Drama School, graduating in 2001.
He started out on the New Zealand comedy circuit, and made his screen debut performing stand-up comedy on television show Pulp Comedy in 2003. He had his first acting role the same year with kids show WNTV, writing and acting in his own sketches.
Holloway put his impersonation skills to the test with Facelift (2004). The sketch show featured actors in costume and prosthetics satirising well-known Kiwi figures. He channelled personalities including journalist, John Campbell and former MP Rodney Hide.
In no time at all Holloway was impersonating John Campbell again, this time for the animated series bro’Town — that is until Campbell himself caught on to it, and took the job. Holloway continued to do the voices for some of the schoolboys instead.
As adept in drama as he is in comedy, Holloway proved himself as an all-rounder when he took on the starring role in 2009 legal drama Until Proven Innocent. The film follows the true story of David Doughtery, who in 1992 faced a wrongful accusation and conviction of abduction and rape. His portrayal of Doughtery earned him Best Actor in the 2009 Qantas Film Awards.
Auditioning for Taika Waititi's debut feature Eagle vs Shark (2007), Holloway initially auditioned for the role of Damon, a lousy impersonator. Unable to bring himself to do a subpar impersonation, he ended with the role of amateur computer hacker instead.
Holloway has continued to work with Waititi throughout his screen career, with the award-winning Boy (2010), playing one-third of the three-man Crazy Horses gang, as a werewolf in What We Do in the Shadows (2014), and a hunter in Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016).
In 2011, Holloway took on a starring role in offbeat Kiwi spaghetti Western Good For Nothing, filmed in the picturesque plains of Central Otago. Holloway played a nameless, laconic outlaw who abducts a travelling English woman. Holloway garnered praise from The NZ Herald, which described his performance as having “a slow-burning energy and his character feels authentic”.
Holloway teamed up with fellow actor Charlie Bleakley in 2014 — the pair co-wrote and co-starred in short film Coconut, a light-hearted road trip about a bromance put to the test. The duo were nominated for Best Script at the NZ Film Awards and SWANZ awards. In the same year, Holloway was nominated for a dramatic role in short The Last Night, as a United Nations Military advisor in tense negotiations with a warlord.
On Happy Hour (2014), Holloway got to showcase his impersonation skills once more. The live comedy variety show, combined guest interviews, performances, satire and sketches. Holloway was a contributing writer, both writing and acting in comedy sketches. He also had a recurring sketch segment in which he would attempt to pitch various impersonations to the show's exasperated presenter, Temuera Morrison.
In 2014 he was also among the cast of Pirates of the Airwaves, a docudrama on the founding of pirate radio station Radio Hauraki, and had a role in Jane Campion’s award-winning series Top of the Lake (2014).
Holloway further sharpened his comedic skills in the 2015 mockumentary series Find Me a Māori Bride for Māori Television. He co-starred in the series as property developer Tama, alongside accountant George (Matariki Whatarau), two cousins disconnected from their cultural roots who must find a Māori bride within six months in order to receive their inheritance. “Some of the things my character does are so un-PC," says Holloway. "I was doing little karakias for myself before and afterwards so my ancestors didn't strike me down with lightning bolts”.
Holloway returned to singing with The Māori Side Steps, a contemporary reinterpretation of Māori showbands, performing live musical comedy skits and parody songs. Holloway is a member of the core group along with Regan Taylor, Rob Mokaraka and Jamie McCaskill. The band was the focus of two seasons of the web series The Māori Sidesteps in 2016, and 2021 Whakaata Māori series Hari with the Māori Side Steps.
Holloway’s chameleon-like ability to transition between comedic and dramatic modes made him a natural fit for 2019 feature Bellbird. The film balances poignant drama with subtle comedy, as a dairy farmer (Marshall Napier) and his son (Holloway) grapple with the loss of their mother and wife. Director Hamish Bennett called Holloway ‘perfect’ for the role as he’s “known for his comedy, but he can go to some of those more dramatic emotional places”. Newshub film reviewer Kate Rodger called his performance a “career-best”.
The same year Bellbird emerged, Holloway co-starred in black comedy Fresh Eggs. He and Claire Chitham played Wade and Penny, a couple who move to the countryside seeking an escape from the Auckland rat race. However rural life is not all it's cracked up to be, as they become embroiled with drug dealers, a vindictive author and an accidental death.
Holloway has also had roles in comedy series Educators and Under the Vines, as well as feature films The Breaker Upperers, The Power of the Dog), Millie Lies Low, and Cousins.
Profile written by Alexandra Paterson; published on 23 November 2023
Sources include
'Cohen Holloway: On blending comedy and drama...' (Video Interview) NZ On Screen website. Director Andrew Whiteside. Loaded 3 August 2015. Accessed 23 November 2023
Duncan Garner, 'Meeting the stars behind new Kiwi film Bellbird' (Interview) - Newshub website. Loaded 6 November 2019. Accessed 23 November 2023
David Haxton, 'Cohen Holloway entertains at business breakfast' (Interview) - The NZ Herald, 13 December 2016
Nikki Macdonald, 'Actor and comedian Cohen Holloway conveys culture through comedy' (Interview) - The Dominion Post (Your Weekend pullout), 15 May 2015
Sarah Nealon, 'Shortland Street's Waverley returns in Fresh new role' (Interview) - TV Week, 5 February 2019
Kate Rodger, 'Bellbird - Kate Rodger's Newshub interview with NZ filmmaker Hamish Bennett and actor Cohen Holloway' YouTube website. Loaded 4 December 2019. Accessed 23 November 2023
Unknown writer, 'Movie review: Good For Nothing' (Review) - The NZ Herald, May 2012