A leap of faith: Broadway’s Corey Cott finds a new life in ‘Filthy Rich’

LOS ANGELES – Some may be attracted to the theatricality of contemporary worship services. Actor Corey Cott likes the stories.

“I was always drawn to the parables,” he says. “I thought it was an exciting way to expose or convey an idea or a virtue of something.”

Now starring as the son of televangelists on “Filthy Rich,” the Broadway actor gets a chance to dabble in several worlds at once. “There’s an inherent theatricality to church,” he says. “When you have music and lights, it’s one big production.”

Singing in his church’s Christmas pageants, Cott didn’t consider music as a talent until he was in an eighth grade production of “Les Miserables.”

“I was one of the students at the barricade and that was a huge moment for me,” he says. “I played sports, but (appearing in a musical) was the first time I ever felt I was part of a team. We accomplished this goal of making sure the audience heard the story. Again, stories were what drew me in.”

A graduate of Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, Cott appeared on Broadway in “Newsies,” “Gigi” and, most recently, “Bandstand.”

The latter, an original musical set after World War II, addressed post-traumatic stress syndrome and how soldiers coped.

“That was my most favorite creative experience so far,” the Ohio native says. “I saw how theater could directly impact people who were going through something like PTSD. We had a lot of veterans come and say, ‘Yes, that’s correct.’ For me, that was on a whole other level.”

The “Newsies” gig introduced him to another aspect of theater – fansies. A hit with teen audiences, the Disney musical attracted thousands of teens and pre-teens.

“It was the only time I felt like a Beatle,” Cott says with a laugh. “In our closing show, we had 30 standing ovations and hundreds of people waiting for autographs. It was crazy – an amazing time.”

During breaks from theater, Cott filled his work life with guest spots on a number of shows, including “The Good Fight.”

“That gave me enough experience to understand the flow of the business,” he says. “The technical aspect, I’m still figuring out. Television is such a technical medium you have to know how tight a shot is and what you’re able to do.”

In theater, “you have eight weeks of rehearsal and a preview process. You’re fine-tuning every single line and every note and lyric.”

In television, “we do one, two takes and then we move on. You have to be game to bring your best at any moment. It’s a good exercise in not being precious about the work.”

A father of two, Cott says television is also more lucrative than theater. It also exposes him to a much larger audience. “I’ve always admired the actors who go to every medium – the Sam Rockwells and the Brandos who do everything.”

Cott’s brother, actor Casey Cott, stars on “Riverdale” as Kevin Keller, the first openly gay character in the Archie Comics universe. Also a Carnegie Mellon grad, he started in regional theater, then moved to television.

“We’ve dreamed about working together but he’s pretty locked down with ‘Riverdale,’” Corey Cott say. “If there’s ever a possibility of working together in whatever way, we want to do it.”

Meanwhile, there are television siblings to worry about. In “Filthy Rich,” Cott’s character, Eric Monreaux, discovers his father had a secret family he never knew about. When they appear – assuming dad is dead – he has to figure out what to do with them.

“He discovers the entire foundation of what he has known to be true is a massive lie,” Cott says. “It’s a big journey for Eric.”

Unwilling to step in to replace his father in the pulpit (his mother, played by Kim Cattrall takes charge), Eric wants to handle all the business side of religion.

“He’s not afraid to be the face if he needs to be, even to the chagrin of his mom, who doesn’t think he’s ready yet,” Cott says.

A juicy role, Eric is not all show and no substance.

“He takes his faith very seriously,” Cott says. “All of the characters who have faith, do.”

For the 30-year-old, that adds another layer to “Filthy Rich.”

“Since I’ve been in theater most of my life, doing something like this has been a great exercise in letting go. Every actors struggles with choices he makes. But that’s the beauty of television. It really is a director’s and editor’s medium. We go and do our job presenting the best version of the material and they decide how to craft the story.”

“Filthy Rich” premieres Sept. 21 on Fox.

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