Meet Mor Cohen | Actress & Filmmaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mor Cohen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mor, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
I think that finding the right work-life balance is the key to maintaining a healthy relationship with your creative career, and it definitely played a pivotal role in how I see mine. In the past, I took pride in being a “super hustler”, which basically meant I prioritized work over almost anything else. I was building myself up as an actor, and that seemed like the most important thing in the world at the time. This mindset really peaked when I moved to New York in 2016, and in fact, was one of the reasons I chose to live there in the first place. I loved that I could literally work all the time and it wasn’t even odd, because everyone else was doing the same. It wasn’t healthy. During my 5 years in NYC, prior to moving to Texas, my sole focus was navigating my career as an actor and a filmmaker, and I really gave it my all. I auditioned around the clock, directed, produced, and acted in short films and Off-Broadway plays. If I needed more time to meet a deadline, I just didn’t go to sleep. Working non stop paid off for a while – I met awesome people and got to work on some really exciting projects, but several years of hustling in the city like that took a real toll, and for the first time in my life, I experienced burnout. I didn’t even know it was a thing. I was having serious thoughts about quitting acting when COVID sent NY into lockdown. This forced break gave me the time I needed to reassess my life, and I realized the burnout I felt had nothing to do with acting but with how I conduct myself as a freelance artist. I spent the rest of the pandemic figuring out a healthier way to navigate my creative life. Today, I make sure to get enough sleep every night, to take breaks when I need them, and to incorporate hobbies and play time into my daily routine. I also choose my work more carefully, as acting can be very time consuming and emotionally demanding. To me, time is the only resource we have that we can never recover, and I want to make sure mine is well spent.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

So I am originally from Israel, and as an immigrant artist living in the U.S., my work naturally revolves around the concept of identity. Moving to a different country and as a young adult is not easy, and it brings up a lot of questions about the self. I’m fascinated by the dissonance between people’s inner lives, the depth of how we experience and define ourselves, and how little of that we’re actually able to share with the world. That very delicate balance is at the core of my work, both as an actor and filmmaker.

As a director, I don’t believe in satisfying happy endings. The way I see it, nothing in life is ever wrapped up neatly, and I don’t want my movies to present some sort of illusion that things just work out. Progress takes effort. When I make a movie, I inevitably discuss a topic in front of my audience, but I don’t offer a conclusion. I use my movies to bring social dilemmas and injustice to the forefront, hoping that the audience will continue the discussion on their own and decide where they stand for themselves.

I design and tend to portray characters that are basically caged animals – limited by their circumstances, repressed by a lack of power, striving to do good but unable to organize. I believe that this is the main struggle our generation is facing and I want my art to reflect that as much as possible.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

Ahhhhh so many options! I have to give some credit to my husband, Polaris Banks, who grew up in DFW here and first introduced me to some of these places when we were still dating. Here are a the spots I wouldn’t skip if my best friends were visiting town:

Breakfast at Spiral Diner & Bakery in Fort Worth – a great place for fun breakfasts with vegan and gluten free options. They have the fluffiest GF pancakes! We’d hit Magnolias in Dallas for a coffee break later in the day.My best friends and I are really into nature, rivers, and lakes, so if it’s not too hot outside, we’d definitely have a picnic and spend a couple of hours by White Rock Lake. I’d probably also take my friends to Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose. We visited the park a couple of years ago, and it was pretty remarkable to walk in the river right by the fossilized dinosaur footprints. The water was super refreshing, and it’s a truly unique experience.
For fun indoor activities, we’re sure to go to The Escape Game in Dallas! We’ve played through all of their escape rooms in Austin and can’t wait to conquer the Dallas branch.
And of course, we won’t miss the classic sunset drinks with a view at Reunion Tower, followed by an old flick at the Rooftop Cinema Club in Downtown Fort Worth.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

I’d love to dedicate this shoutout to Stage West Theatre in Fort Worth! I’ve had the pleasure of working with Stage West on Jason Odell Williams’s lovely romantic comedy Handle With Care that ran during the holiday season. I played the dream leading role of Ayelet alongside a wonderful cast, and it was probably the best theater experience I ever had. The people at Stage West work with so much passion and dedication, and they truly make magic happen on stage. I am forever grateful to the theatre and to our phenomenal director Illana Stein for this opportunity.

The longer I work as an actor in the film industry, the more I understand how important it is to surround yourself with the right people. So I also want to shoutout my best friends – Sivan Arbel, Meitar Forkosh, Ori Gilady, and my husband, Polaris Banks. They are all in creative fields as well, and their work inspires me so much every day. They have been there for me in my highest highs and lowest lows. They elevate my life in every sense of the word, and I am so fortunate to be able to grow alongside them as an artist and a human being.

Website: www.morcohen.net

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morcohenet/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/morcohen.net

Other: IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7160187/

Image Credits
Evan Michael woods (stage photo)
Ran Mendelson (period film photo)
Polaris Banks (Main photo)