By Caryn James
As the new film The Apprentice debuts at Cannes, we delve into the enduring influence of Roy Cohn, the infamous Donald Trump Lawyer who served as a pivotal mentor in Trump’s formative years. Cohn’s brutal mantra – “attack, counterattack, and never apologize” – became the bedrock of Trump’s ascent.
The Apprentice, a film generating significant buzz at Cannes, flips the script on Donald Trump’s reality TV show. Here, the apprentice is a young, ambitious Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan), aggressively schooled in the ruthless world of power and manipulation by donald trump lawyer Roy Cohn, portrayed with chilling intensity by Jeremy Strong. While Strong’s portrayal of Kendall Roy in Succession is known for its ruthlessness, it pales in comparison to the real-life Roy Cohn.
Cohn’s legacy extends far beyond his mentorship of Trump. Even before their alliance, he was a formidable, often menacing, figure in American politics and culture. His staggering hypocrisy was evident in his persecution of gay individuals during the Lavender Scare of the 1950s, despite being a closeted gay man himself. Throughout his career, Cohn employed bullying and distortion of facts as weapons. His death from AIDS in 1986 was marked by denial and public insistence on liver cancer, even as he brought lovers to public events.
The Apprentice documents the formative relationship between donald trump lawyer Roy Cohn and Donald Trump (Credit: Cannes Film Festival)
Cohn’s cultural footprint is undeniable. He is immortalized as a furious, malevolent character in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America and the recent miniseries Fellow Travelers. He even served as the inspiration for Mr. Burns’s sinister, unnamed lawyer in The Simpsons. Esquire magazine aptly described Cohn as galloping “through the second half of the 20th Century like a malevolent Forrest Gump,” reflecting widespread public sentiment.
Thomas Mallon, author of Fellow Travelers, observes, “One surprise… is that Cohn would have a vampiric afterlife… And of course, he owes that to Trump.” Cohn’s influence persists, casting a long shadow. Mallon astutely notes, “Insofar as he personally affected Trump’s thinking and behaviour, one realises that Cohn has had an impact on the republic… for 70 years,” making The Apprentice incredibly relevant today.
Cohn’s brilliance, albeit twisted, was undeniable. In his early 20s, as an assistant prosecutor in 1951, he played a crucial role in the conviction and execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for espionage, infamously admitting to back-channel communications with the judge to secure the death penalty. He quickly rose to notoriety as chief counsel for Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anti-communist crusade.
In the dazzling and decadent New York of the 1970s and 80s, Cohn frequented Studio 54 and wielded influence through friendships with figures like Barbara Walters, Andy Warhol, and the Reagans. His client list ranged from Mafia bosses to Donald Trump. Just weeks before his death, he was disbarred for numerous offenses, including defrauding clients. His notorious habit of uninvitedly eating from others’ plates in upscale restaurants further cemented his reputation as a man who disregarded boundaries. (Narcissism or bad manners? Likely both.)
Matt Tyrnauer, director of Where’s my Roy Cohn?, stated that donald trump lawyer Cohn “created a president from beyond the grave” (Credit: Getty Images)
The alliance between Cohn and Trump began in the early 1970s when the US government sued Trump and his father for racial discrimination in their housing rentals. Donald trump lawyer Roy Cohn’s response was aggressive: he had Trump countersue the Justice Department. The case was settled, but it ignited a pattern of aggressive litigation that defined Trump’s business and political trajectory. A Washington Post headline during the 2016 election captured Cohn’s essence: “The man who showed Donald Trump how to exploit power and instill fear,” summarizing his core teaching as “attack, counterattack and never apologise.” Cohn was also a master of media manipulation, a skill he imparted to Trump.
The documentary Where’s my Roy Cohn? (2019) offers a historical portrait of Cohn, though not solely focused on Trump. Its title originates from Trump’s now-famous outburst. Reportedly, when Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation, Trump, enraged by perceived disloyalty, demanded, “Where’s my Roy Cohn?”
Trump’s lament, “Where’s my Roy Cohn?”, echoing his need for a fiercely loyal donald trump lawyer, has resurfaced in discussions surrounding his current legal team as he faces his first criminal trial in New York. Where’s my Roy Cohn? features archival footage of Cohn throughout his career. In a chillingly calm 1970s TV interview, Cohn boasts about selling “scare value” to clients, implying that opponents would face “terrible consequences” if they didn’t comply.
Ivy Meeropol, the Rosenbergs’ granddaughter, commented: “Donald trump lawyer Cohn really paved the way for Trump and set him up with… the people who helped him get to the White House” (Credit: Getty Images)
Despite his profound impact, Cohn had largely faded from public memory until Angels in America in 1991. Tony Kushner’s brilliant portrayal of Cohn on his deathbed became an emblem of Reagan-era hypocrisy. Al Pacino’s powerful performance in the Angels in America miniseries depicts Cohn as fiercely committed to his lies, yet with a flicker of pathos. He lashes out at his doctor, threatening destruction if AIDS is mentioned again, clinging to the denial that he was gay because “homosexuals are men who have zero clout.” In a haunting scene, the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg (Meryl Streep) confronts him, and Cohn callously gloats, “You deserved it,” regarding her execution.
The Fellow Travelers series expands Cohn’s role beyond the novel, portraying him as a menacing presence in the lives of the closeted lovers, Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey, in 1950s Washington. The fictional Cohn (Will Brill) fiercely demands preferential treatment for his drafted lover, G. David Schine, threatening a US Army General with chilling words: “I tend to get what I want, often at the expense of those who try to prevent me from getting what I want.” Ironically, such threats contributed to the Army’s investigation into McCarthy and Cohn, ultimately leading to Cohn’s departure from Washington.
Further Reading:
- The Russian box office hit that criticised the state
- What would happen if teen girls ran a government?
- The drama that raged against Reagan’s America
Cohn’s destructive nature paradoxically lends itself to satire. In The Good Fight, Michael Sheen’s character, Roland Blum, is partly inspired by Cohn – a bombastic, deceptive lawyer with a New York accent. In an episode titled “The One Inspired by Roy Cohn,” Blum brandishes a fentanyl lollipop and points to a photo of himself with Cohn and Roger Stone, another Cohn protégé and later Trump advisor. “He taught us there could be beauty in a well-told lie,” Blum tells a young, idealistic lawyer. The episode even features an animated short with a disco-dancing Cohn and a caricature of Trump, with lyrics proclaiming, “Donald trump lawyer Cohn defended a young Trump and taught him everything he knew,” and “who needs the truth when you’re winning.”
When donald trump lawyer Cohn (portrayed by Will Brill in Fellow Travelers, pictured) faced disbarment in 1968, Trump testified in support of him keeping his law license (Credit: Paramount)
Trump’s allies offer a contrasting perspective on Cohn, though his name is seldom explicitly mentioned. Steve Bannon, Trump’s former advisor, is a notable exception. Bannon penned the foreword to a 2023 reissue of Nicholas von Hoffman’s biography, Citizen Cohn, portraying Cohn as “one of the most extraordinary, demonised, and misunderstood figures of 20th-Century politics.”
Bannon draws parallels to Trump’s indictments, asserting, “President Trump is fighting back,” echoing Cohn’s combative style. “Is it any wonder that President Trump is asking ‘Where’s my Roy Cohn?'” Bannon writes. While Bannon claims the biography is harsh, a New York Times review described Citizen Cohn as “balanced” and focused on “gossip and a little psychobiography.”
Gabriel Sherman, screenwriter for The Apprentice, aimed to distinguish his Cohn portrayal from previous depictions. He sought to present a “much quieter and more menacing” Cohn, based on accounts from those who knew him, diverging from the “flamboyant, larger-than-life loud brash character” often portrayed. This quieter menace is evident in archival footage within Where’s my Roy Cohn? and Ivy Meeropol’s Bully. Coward. Victim: The Story of Roy Cohn. The real Cohn’s cold restraint amplifies his sinister persona.
Jeremy Strong’s portrayal in The Apprentice promises to explore this vampiric aspect of Cohn. Kushner’s Cohn declares in Angels, “I have forced my way into history. I ain’t never gonna die.” Ethel Rosenberg warns, “History is about to crack wide open. Millennium approaches.” Yet, even past the millennium, Cohn’s influence, particularly through his protégé Donald Trump, persists.
—
The Apprentice premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 20.
Sign up for The Essential List newsletter for handpicked features, videos and news delivered to your inbox twice a week.
Follow BBC Culture on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
