Why Doug Jones From The VelociPastor Looks So Familiar
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"The VelociPastor" is a campy horror movie about a priest who questions his faith in God after his parents die in a spontaneous car explosion. After that, he does what any other normal, grieving person would do: He travels to China, finds a mysterious artifact that gives him the power to turn into a velociraptor, befriends a sex worker, and starts taking out God's vengeance on the sinful and corrupt by tearing them to shreds. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the film's special effects are about as technically advanced as a high school video project, and the dialogue is so intentionally cheesy that it pairs well with a slightly chilled Malbec. If you're into movies that are so bad, they're amazing, you can't go wrong putting this flick at the top of your watchlist.
Greg Cohan stars as the eponymous pastor-dinosaur hybrid being. And he does a really good job in the role — especially considering how different it was from the bulk of his previous work. If he looks or sounds familiar to you, there's probably a good reason. He's been credited in several different under-the-radar indie productions, walk-on roles in major network cop dramas, and voice parts in video games, among other things.
He's been a total Chad — more than once
Greg Cohan started channeling his inner Chad all the way back in 2014 when the web series "Space Available" debuted from Room 1209 Productions. They only ever made one season, but it's still available for purchase on Amazon Prime, and at the time of publication, it has unanimous five-star reviews from those who have seen it. Cohan plays the titular character in Season 1, Episode 4 — "Chad" — about "an overzealous trust fund baby with a dream, which he is looking to fill at Space Available" rehearsal studios.
Around a year later, he played almost the exact same part — except this time, it was in a dramatic context instead of a comedic one. In the web series "Six Windows" (which is currently available for free on YouTube), Cohan once again stars as the titular character of an episode called "Chad" and brings his biggest Chad energy to the screen. Picture a low-key Patrick Bateman, but without all the obsession over business cards and murder. His story has a bit of a character arc where he reforms his inconsiderate ways in an attempt to get with an old flame — but there's a twist ending that nobody sees coming. Although "Six Windows" has largely flown under the radar, it's got an impressive 7.1/10 on IMDb (as of March 2022).
He got more than a little wet in A Little Water
Greg Cohan also stars in an indie film called "A Little Water." The movie features four adults playing characters with their real-life first names but who are also obviously fictional versions of themselves. Cohan plays (you guessed it) Greg, who takes a weekend trip to a lake with three of his cohorts. But this isn't just any lake. It's the site of a tragic accident from the four main characters' past, and the film explores the emotional connections between everyone involved.
For coming from a company called High Octane Studios, though, the film received a conversely tepid audience reaction. It managed a lukewarm 3/5 stars on Amazon, but only a 4.4/10 on IMDb, as of early 2022. Among some of the more critical reviews on Prime Video were from Carrie B., who thought it was "slow and boring and odd," and lauralee, who thought it was "a slow movie and absolutely nothing happens." It's a shame Cohan couldn't take his "so bad, it's good" acting experience from "The VelociPastor" and recreate that magic in this film. To be fair to him and the other creators, though, the movie is highly rated among people like Jen who enjoy "character-driven films," so they've got that going for them.
He's played a lot of cops
At some point in their careers, most actors will have to take nameless walk-on roles before they get the big hit that puts their name in the spotlight. Greg Cohan is no stranger to that struggle. The bit parts that he is perhaps best known for are based in law enforcement. Many of those roles, including SWAT #2 on "The Blacklist" and Cop #6 on "Blue Bloods," don't give him much time to shine (via IMDb). But some of his more recent cop roles show that he's moving up the ladder.
As recently as 2019, he landed his first named cop-show role as Guard Alvin Bell in Season 10, Episode 21 of "NCIS: Los Angeles." He has a small cameo as another unnamed cop on Season 5, Episode 4 of "Snowfall," another Los Angeles-based crime drama. How long will it be before he gets more named roles — or maybe multiple appearances — on the next hit cop drama? It's hard to say. But that may have to wait until after he's done working on "Outback Dracula," the spiritual sequel to "The VelociPastor," which is currently in development (according to The Hollywood Reporter).