Kiwi actor Cohen Holloway shrugged off his increasingly painful migraines for months before he saw anyone about them. He’d suffered from them as a child and just assumed they’d returned, with a vengeance. But his life changed in an instant when he learnt the real reason – he had stage four brain cancer.
“I’d been exhausted after filming Dark City: The Cleaner in Christchurch, but I just blamed it on the long hours on set,” recalls Cohen, 52.
A life-altering diagnosis
“And then the migraines started. Six weeks later, my mother-in-law called an ambulance, whipping me to hospital and into an MRI. “A doctor woke me up at 4am to tell me they’d found a tumour in my head,” he tells Woman’s Day from the Kāpiti Coast home he shares with his early childhood teacher wife Kelly, 48, and sons Cruiz, 16, and Leo, 12.
“I came to after surgery with staples in my head, unable to walk and blind in one eye. It was terrifying.”
Facing stage 4 glioblastoma
For Cohen, whose acting roles include Boy, Eagle Vs Shark, What We Do In The Shadows, Hunt For The Wilderpeople, Educators and Jane Campion’s Top Of The Lake, the news was grim. It was stage 4 glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of brain tumour. When Cohen asked the doctors the best way to beat it, they told him no one had managed so far. Sadly, they gave him about six months to live.
“I was a mess, Kelly was a mess, my mum was a mess,” he recalls.
Cohen spent six months either in treatment, including surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, “which was like attacking a forest fire with a water pistol”, or in bed with a little bell to “annoy Kelly with”.
But he kept on fighting. One day, while watching rugby, it dawned on him that those six months had passed.
Beating the odds
“And from that moment on, I’ve beaten the odds,” he grins.
“They call me a medical miracle. It’s now been two years and the tumour has shrunk from covering 80% of the cognitive area to just 5%. My oncologist Nichola Naidoo said I’m a world record holder!”
For more than a year, Cohen kept the news quiet from the acting fraternity because he knew they’d come running – arms open – and he couldn’t wrap his head around it himself yet. When he shared his diagnosis, the outpouring of love was immediate, including from some high-flying Kiwi Hollywood mates.
Outpouring of love
Old friends Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, from Flight Of The Concords fame, visited Cohen at home, where Taika happily plonked himself down in a bean bag for a chat and a cuppa.
“My kids took the day off school to meet them and were mad when I didn’t ask them for a selfie!” laughs Cohen.
“But they’re just absolutely lovely gentlemen. I’ve worked with Taika quite a lot. “On set, he’ll have the music going and the crew cracking up because he’s so funny. I’ve never seen a crew work so hard as they do for Taika and Jane Campion, because people love them so much. “I loved doing Boy with Taika. I played Chuppa, who was the co-captain of the Crazy Horses, and it took me a while to get my character’s voice right. I put it to Taika that I sound like the person who screams so much at a party that they have no voice. Taika said to try it out and if the crew laughed, I could have it – and they did!”
A talen born from adversity
Cohen is an extremely talented mimic – his John Campbell, David Seymour and David Lange impressions are spot on. He says he developed the skill in school, when his acne made him a target. He learnt that impersonating the bullies got a laugh, so it became his defence mechanism.
“When I was filming Hunt For The Wilderpeople, Sam Neill came up and asked to hear my David Lange impression,” he remembers.
“They’d been mates, so the pressure was on. He just stared at me, but then he laughed and we were all good! “Sam’s been really good to me through treatment. He keeps in touch and offers me advice because he’s been through it himself.”
Shared strength in struggle
In 2022, Sir Sam revealed that he was battling stage three angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, which is now in remission. Cohen has gone from strength to strength since his diagnosis, surprising everyone – except perhaps his family.
“From day one, everyone around me said I’d beat it, that I was going to be the miracle,” says Cohen, who is of Nga¯ti Toa descent on his mum’s side.
“You get very spiritual while processing it all. I’d see a tūī fly into our backyard and wonder if it was an ancestor telling me I’d get through it. “When I was up for Best Actor at the NZ Television Awards for Dark City, I didn’t win, but they started doing that ‘In the memory of’ bit and Kelly grabbed my hand and said, ‘That could have been you’, which really hit home.”
Living with Limitations
Today, Cohen has to take anti-seizure pills and can’t drive for three years, but says his stamina is great and he’s feeling good. He managed to play cricket last season “because I’m a cricket tragic” and is enjoying having energy to do things with his family.
“My boys are amazing,” he shares.
“Cruiz is into computers and very shy unless he knows you, like his mum. But Leo is mad like me! He’s football crazy and plays for the regional team. I enjoy watching him play on Sundays.”
Back on screen
Cohen is again appearing on our screens, alongside Lucy Lawless as dog dad Doug in TVNZ’s My Life Is Murder.
“Although we’d been on Spartacus, we hadn’t done scenes together,” he admits.
“It was cool to hang out with her for the full day filming. She was lovely. I’m just so lucky to be able to do this stuff. “Having this diagnosis isn’t lucky, but still being here is. Every day is a good day and you’ve got to take the blessings – no matter what.”
My Life Is Murder screens 8.30pm Sundays on TVNZ 1 and streams on TVNZ+.
