Cookie/EmCeeGenoSilva

Sex

 

 

Male

Quote:

"Who ever you're hiding from... they know where you are."

listen the voice

Age

Middle 50s

Origin

Hispanic

Address

Park Hotel, Club Silencio

Occupation

Hotel Manager, EmCee

Fashion style

Moustache

Relationship

Adam, Rebekah Del Rio

Doppelganger

EmCee, Woman of #12

Geno Silva appears in two scenes in Mulholland Drive. They are brief, but memorable. In his first scene, he plays Cookie, the manager of a dilapidated hotel where Adam Kesher is staying after being thrown out of his house by his wife. Cookie warns Adam that his credit cards are maxed out, and that whoever is looking for him knows where he is.
In the second scene, Cookie makes a surprising appearance as the emcee of Club Silencio where Rita takes Betty late one night. Cookie's reappearance not only helps to provide another bridge between two stories which appear to have very little connection - Adam's and Betty's - but it references the idea of dual identities that is a major theme of the film. Cookie's emcee role is also memorable because the character introduces singer Rebekah Del Rio, whose song becomes a major turning point in the movie.

Wrapped in Plastic #57

Cookie/EmCeeCookie/EmCee - same actor … but also same character?

The use of the same actor for two, unrelated, small parts should bolster the Diane's Dream theorists. Why? because IMO it re-inforces the idea that the whole dream sequence is indeed a creation, something put together slightly hurriedly, slightly hap-hazardly fom a limited cast of possible characters. IOW, there was no real hotel manager and/or Silencio MC. Diane is using the characters she knows to fill in all sorts of roles she imagines. -  (Thespear)

When Cookie warns Adam in the hotel he addresses him with the phrases "mira, ese", and "oye, carnal" which are slang terms, and very LA/Mexican-American in their usage. Basically, "mira, ese" = "look, man", and "oye, carnal" = "listen, brother". The main thing that I get from this is that Cookie seems to be really trying to help Adam. He's trying to get through to him with this information, and is doing his best to warn him, as a friend. I don't know what this might mean in real life, but my theory about Cookie is that he might have been someone (the real-life manager of the Park Hotel? the manager of the Sierra Bonita Apts?) who was always genuinely nice to Diane, and really felt sorry for her, even though he knew that there was nothing he could do for her. This is consistent with his role at Silencio, in my opinion, because you could say that he was working there as someone who was helping to bring Diane back to reality. - (Aerial)

Cookie obviously knows Adam Kesher. Why does he know him? They're friends, and Cookie has a history with him. You can see that he's protecting him. But that guy is also in show business! He is the emcee of that club. What a comment on LA. No matter who you talk to, they are somehow connected to show business.

Diane evicting Lamp LadyCookie & Lamp Lady - a connection?

I think Cookie could represent Diane's neighbor who comes for her dishes. They both come knocking at the door telling their friends they are being sought by two males. Cookie tells Adam two guys were looking for him and that whoever he's hiding from, they know where he is. My theory for the "real scene": In apartment #16, the neighbor tells Diane two detectives came by again looking for her, making Diane think that sooner or later they're going to find out where she is. Both, Cookie and the neighbor seem to be of Hispanic decent: Cookie is throwing in some Spanish lines and Diane's neighbor is presumably going by the name of Gonzales or De Rosa. » See panel

The name of the guy who runs the Park Hotel is Cookie, and with a such nickname I think he is a coke provider, and more precisely Diane's provider. In the dream, she pretends that it is Rita who is addicted to coke. Rebekah could be a junkie too, as all the prostitutes who work in the Park Hotel for Cookie. That's his little business. - (gandalf36)

Trivia: Geno Silva on how he got involved with the project

I got a call from my agent, and he says, "Geno, David Lynch wants to see you for his new film." I said, "Excellent. Is there a script?" "Uh, no." "Oh, well fax me the sides, okay?" Uh, there are no sides." And I said, "What am I doing? What am I going to play?" He said, "I don't know. That's the way David Lynch works." So I asked him what I needed to do. "Well, you're going to go meet Johanna Ray, and she's going to put you on tape." I said, "Doing what!?" "Well, he just likes to see people. He likes your look; he wants to see you."
So I go there, and Johanna Ray is a wonderful, lovely woman. I'm talking to her, and she brings up this thing about being an ethnic actor in Hollywood, and she asked me about Spanish. So I threw some Spanish into the videotape mix - we're talking, and I spoke Spanish. I talked about doing Zoot Suit on Broadway. And that was it.

EmCeeNine months go by, and my agent calls me: "Geno, remember that David Lynch film?" "Yeah?" (I had assumed it had moved on.) "Well, he wants you to do it." I said, "Do what!? (Laughter) I couldn't believe it! He said, "Listen, I had some clients work on Fire Walk With Me, and this is the way he does it. He works on the fly." I said, "But is there a script?" He said, "Geno, do you want to work with David? And I said, "Well it's kinda of hard to say 'yes' when you don't know what you're going to do. Let me get a look at something." It was Friday and I said, "When does this go?" And he said, "It goes Monday." (Laughter) So he sends me over what, I guess, was supposed to be sides. All it said was, "Mexican emcee introduces Rebekah Del Rio." No dialogue. Nothing. I was really mad, and I threw it across the room! I said, "I'm not going to do this. this is s---!" You get really angry at stuff like that. You think you're being exploited, and you think that somehow you're Tom Cruise or something!
So I go to wardrobe, and they present that incredible, beautiful red suit. It fit like it was made for me. Then I found those old black-and-white shoes, and I thought, "Well this could be some fun." 

Wrapped in Plastic #57

Trivia: Geno Silva on the shoot of his scenes 

Geno had been asked only to do the role of EmCee. He shot the scene (it took about a day), then...

"I had finished the day about four in the afternoon. We were shooting downtown, and my wife owns a dance studio in Hollywood. So I drive over there on my way home and call my answering machine to check my messages. There are these three frantic messages: 'Geno! Oh my God! Call us back as soon as you can! This is Frank -- the AD on Mulholland Drive -- you've got to come back! You've got to come back!' They were, like, nuts! I called back and they said, 'Can you come back now!?' And I said, 'What happened? Did you guys burn the film?' He said, 'David wants to know if you want to play another part.' I said, 'When?' 'Right now. Can you come back to the set?' I said, 'He wants me to play another part, now, at the same set?'

I go back there and as I drive into the lot a hundred walkie-talkies go off: "Geno's here!" It was echoing across the block. It was so weird. I said (to the costumer), 'Look, before anything happens, I need to talk to David. Give me a walkie-talkie.' So I get David and I say, 'David, what am I doing?' He said, 'Ah, Geno, I'm so glad you got back. I have an idea. I think it will be some fun.' I said, 'Do you want me to change my look? Change my hair or shave, maybe?' He said, 'No, no. I want you to look exactly the same.' Then he said, 'What it's going to be - this is your day job. The other one's your night job.' (Laughter) I had no idea. I still have no idea! But I'm just loving this!"

David was so happy. He said, "That was great, Cookie." He kept calling me Cookie. What was funny to me was that nobody makes movies like this. That's like guerilla filmmaking, except the guy is one of the top directors in the world. That's what you would do if you were on college. But he can pull it off because of his incredible vision in true collaboration. That's what's fun about it.

Wrapped in Plastic #57

Thread: But what about Cookie and the little black book? - (Stan103)

Related:

Spanish Lines

Park Hotel

Rebekah Del Rio