Posted in: Exclusive, Interview, Lionsgate, Movies | Tagged: Mob Cops

Mob Cops Star Jeremy Luke on Lionsgate Crime Drama, Arquette & More

Jeremy Luke (The Irishman) spoke to Bleeding Cool about the Lionsgate crime drama Mob Cops, director Danny Abeckaser, David Arquette & more.

In an era of crime dramas, many stories emerged about the mafia's influence on American society. It's one thing to explore the dark, seedy operations, but it's another to explore the corrupted officials that enabled them, especially when they're trusted law enforcement. Based on the true story of the infamous "Mafia Cops" of Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito, Mob Cops follows Sammy Canzano (David Arquette) and Leo Benetti (Jeremy Luke), who not only served the badge of the NYPD, but also organized crime as the truth comes out after a retired NYPD detective writes about their exploits. Luke spoke to Bleeding Cool about reuniting with writer-director Danny Abeckaser, writer Kosta Kondilopoulos, Arquette, and the limits of indie filming of a story of this nature.

Mob Cops Star Jeremy Luke on Bringing the Police Corruption Story to Life

Bleeding Cool: How did you get involved with 'Mob Cops' and what intrigued you about the story?

First, I worked with Danny Abeckaser in 2022 in a movie called 'Inside Man' starring Emile Hirsch, and then I was in Montreal at the beginning of 2023 doing a job and had a lot of free time. [Kosta Kondilopoulos], the writer from 'Inside Man', got in touch with me and was like, "Jeremy, let's go out to dinner." I said, "Yes, please, I need a friend." We went out to dinner, and he started telling me about a new movie he was writing for Danny called 'Mob Cops,' and I was very intrigued. I was familiar with the story, and that's how it all started. What intrigued me about the role was somebody who took an oath for the NYPD, and he was also in the mafia, had mafia connections when he shouldn't have been while serving the NYPD. He was also a husband and father, and on top of that, which I couldn't really relate to, he was an actor.

What stood out about Kosta's script, and what was it like working with Danny, the creative?

What's felt out to me about the script was the story of these two officers, who killed a lot of people and worked for the mob. It was almost unbelievable that they got away with what they did for so long. My character, Leo Binetti, is a real person, and this is a real story. He was very cavalier late in his career. He was appearing on television, and that's how he got caught. He was on a talk show, and a woman was watching the talk show. She was like, "That's the guy who took my son! That's a cop who took my son the last time I saw him!" That's how it all opened up the case. Working with Danny is awesome. He's collaborative and also a good friend of mine. We collaborate well together. I knew what I was getting into with 'Inside Man.' He kept the set pretty positive and likes what we bring to the table. He's not rigid in his directing, either. He lets you make your choices and gives you little sprinkles on top.

What was it like working with David [Arquette] and developing your chemistry as Sandy Canzano and Leo? Was there anything additional you brought aside from the scripts and the additional prep from researching the role?

Working with David was awesome. We got together the first couple of times and FaceTimed, because he doesn't live in California. I'm in California, and then when he got here, we started working on the script together. We would meet up and go to this diner called Patty's Restaurant in Toluca Lake, CA. We run the scenes together and share information, talk about the documentaries we watched, and the new information we gathered along the way. We actually got along really good and became friends as well.

What can you say about your castmates like Kevin [Connolly] and Graham [Sibley], and what they brought to the film?

Kevin played the district attorney. I didn't have a scene with Kevin. I had a scene with Graham, and he's a good friend of mine in real life. The thing with Graham was that he helped me with the role every day for a month, because I got cast a month out. That was a quick process for me, but I went to his house every day for a month, and we worked on me becoming Leo Benetti. He helped me out a lot with this and took me through the whole thing.

What was the most difficult part of the journey during filming?

I wish I had more time. Since I had a month, but somebody could have six months. I wish we had more time with smaller budget things, but we just have less time to shoot. We had to shoot in about 12 days, but they have a lot more time with bigger budget stuff. You don't have to shoot 6-7 pages a day, so you can shoot two pages, and you have the luxury of just going a little slow at a slower pace.

Was the film already done by the time Lionsgate picked it up? Could they have potentially funneled a little bit more money into production to expand?

The film was already picked up by Lionsgate before we were filming, because Danny had done a few films for Lionsgate and has a good relationship with them.

Mob Cops, which also stars Abeckaser, Joseph Russo, Nathaniel Buzolic, Kyle Stefanski, and Bo Dietl, is available in theaters, on demand, and digital.

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