10 BrainMatters SPRING|SUMMER 2020
LOUIS GOSSETT JR. ON PLAYING
A DEMENTIA PATIENT IN THE CUBAN
Louis Gossett Jr.'s portrayal of Drill Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film An Officer and A Gentleman
blew audiences away, so much so that he made history as the first African American to win an
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The actor is delivering another unforgettable performance as he stars in a new movie,
The Cuban,
playing a dementia patient named Luis. In an interview with
BrainMatters, Gossett shares his acting
process as well as what drew him to the role.
Gossett explains that
The Cuban is a movie about "a young woman finding her way to a man
who is suffering deeply." The film begins when Mina, the young woman played by Ana Golja,
begins her first job in a nursing home and meets an older man with a pattern of aggressive and
unpredictable behaviour.
