Meet the cast: Professor Moorefeatured

When we decided to move forward with producing Break, we knew we had a good script, which laid the foundation for a good project. Next, we needed to build a team with the right cast and crew.

Lucky us — we found them! I’m excited to share a bit about them.

The first time we talked to Juri Henley-Cohn about playing Professor Moore, he had a question.

He was into the script; he liked the role. He got it. But still, he asked, “Are you sure you want to bring me in for this?”

Casting him would involve flying him in from New York and working around his schedule. He knew it might be more hoops than we wanted to work around for a short film, especially considering that Professor Moore appears in just one scene.

We said, “Absolutely we want to bring you in for this.”

Because while it’s just one scene, it’s a crazy important scene. In fact, I doubt the rest of the story could play out the way it does without Professor Moore.

So we needed someone great. And we cast him.

Juri Henley-Cohn as Professor Moore. Photo by Mary Ellen Chiles.

This is the character Richard and I discussed most. We knew he was important — instinctually. But why? Who is this enigmatic professor who makes such an impact on Mike’s life?

It came down to his function in the script. He needed to embody a certain perspective. Finally, Richard said, “He’s like Rick in Casablanca. You know, he doesn’t stick his neck out for anyone. He’s like Rick. Only he doesn’t have Paris. As in, he never had Paris.”

The role, as written, is so fun with lots of great dialogue. And then, on top of that, Juri brought such inventiveness and agility to the work. He blew us all away, which was especially welcome because we filmed his scene on the very last day of production. His energy was a cool boost when we were all exhausted.

So yeah, totally worth bringing him in for.