Cher Cosenza is an award-winning actress who has worked with a diverse mix of Hollywood, racking up credits in movies like Death in Texas, The Wilde Wedding, What Happens in Vegas, and Zoolander.
On the small screen, she's starred in The Sopranos, iCarly, and The Carrie Diaries. Cosenza has also been seen on billboards in Times Square and walking fashion week for top designers, appearing in GQ, Maxim, Psychology Today, and Cosmo Magazine.
Earlier this month, we got to sit down with the actor and model to discuss her role alongside Tom Welling and Cam Gigandet in Scott Windhauser's Mafia Wars.
"Tom obviously comes from such a large background on screen already," Cosenza tells us in the video below of her experiences working with the former Superman. "Even though I’ve been working since I was 10, maybe 8, it gets to a point where, as you do these movies, you work with people you realise take their own adventures and put it on screen. Everyone has their own format of acting."
"We were very lucky [because] Tom and I do a lot of the same type of motives with our acting. We felt really combined and one from the beginning. Working with him was wonderful. First of all, I’ll tell you this much, he’s a great guy. When you’re working with great people, it’s really easy to enjoy it. He’s an all-around great guy."
She added, "As far as our screentime together, we have a very complex relationship…it was really fun to bounce off the vibe of not knowing where we were going to go with our characters as we grew into the roles together and to see how at the end, we really were feeling each other’s vibes."
Cosenza would go on to tell us how her real-life experiences informed how she approached playing Spinx, a character who appears to be one thing on the surface but will definitely end up surprising you as the story continues.
"I actually used to go undercover as a decoy. I would do things like catch cheaters, go on excursions where I had to be a different person, and I literally am a licensed P.I," the actor reveals. "It’s something I’ve always kept in my back pocket…the idea of having a role that played into something that I actually did in real life was just remarkable, I couldn’t say no to this one."
"My character as Spinx is very multi-layered, as you know. I think to call her a bit of a chameleon [Laughs] and with being a chameleon, we obviously know what that means. She’s not going to be what you expect!"
In the rest of our interview, Cosenza also reflects on shooting an intense action sequence in the middle of Rome, the chances of a Mafia Wars sequel, and how her real-life family ended up playing an unexpected role in the project.
You can find Cher on Instagram @chercosenza, Facebook (Cher Cosenza - Cherknows), and her podcast Speaking Volumes Podcast with Cher Cosenza and Skeery Jones.
0:10 - What it was like working with Tom Welling
1:54 - The complex relationship between Spinx and Terry
3:50 - Dressing as a nun for a memorable shootout in the middle of Rome
6:30 - Whether there were specific movies or characters who inspired her
9:05 - The unique experience of sharing the screen with Cam Gigandet
11:03 - What interested her about exploring the criminal underworld
13:40 - The odds of seeing Spinx again in a possible sequel
14:50 - Where she’d like to set a follow-up and her daughter’s role in the movie
17:12 - What she loves about the action genre
19:50 - Mafia Wars' awesome movie poster
20:55 - Where you can find Cher's podcast and social media
Terry Jacobs (Tom Welling) is a recently paroled felon forced to go undercover to bring down Griff (Cam Gigandet), the head of the most infamous mob syndicate in Italy.
Mafia Wars is available on Digital and On Demand on October 11.