Two actors walk onto a TV set. One asks, where are you from? And the other answers New Jersey. Where in New Jersey? Near Princeton. Where near Princeton? Plainsboro.
Me too, says the first.
This how Gabe Manak and Cooper Andrews, both actors on the AMC series “Halt and Catch Fire,” discovered their mutual former home town.
Gabe Manak portrays Arki, a computer geek in the drama set in 1983 and based on the personal computer revolution. He has worked on “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water,” “Masterminds,” and “Four Blood Moons.” He has been able to stand in and double for big time names like Antonio Banderas, Nat Wolff, Colin Farrell, Ron Livingston, Justin Long, and more. “I’ve met some amazing people and many of them are my friends now. My life became not only about me becoming a professional working actor but to be a person who can share joy with others to then hopefully inspire them to go out and do what makes them happy,” he says.
Born in Queens, New York, Manak moved to Plainsboro in 1999 and graduated from High School North in 2005. His mother, Alexandra Manak, is an executive associate at Bristol-Myers Squibb in Plainsboro. She is also the choir director at Assumption of the Holy Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Church in Trenton. His father, Robert Manak, is a horse groomer at the horse farm attached to Parx Casino in Pennsylvania. “He loves horses,” says Gabe. His brother, Michael Manak, a 2004 graduate of High School North, is a data entry clerk in the IT department of Trap Rock Industries in Kingston.
Manak has wanted to perform since he was very young. “My brother and I would not only ask Santa for action figures but also character costumes. A few months ago, my brother Michael found an old picture from that specific Christmas where he was dressed in a Musketeer costume and I was in a Robin Hood costume. That’s when I knew I wanted to act and perform. My brother and I put those costumes on and performed a whole scene in front of the family. It was such a beautiful memory.”
Manak envisioned himself on television or film. “I always saw myself either playing a super hero of some sort (Superman for sure) or an action adventure hero like Indiana Jones,” he says. Manak majored in television and film production at Mercer Community College and made himself available as an actor for projects by his classmates. “Any chance for me to act in front of a camera, I’d be there,” he says. “I also acted in many of my own group projects.”
He took a few acting and improv courses in high school and college. His best lessons came from watching DVDs of TV shows and films. “Every night I would be plugged to the screen not only dreaming of being on the big screen but also studying,” says Manak. “Many never think about it but watching movies and TV shows is a form of studying for acting. With a camera, it grabs so much more in detail of what’s going on in a character’s mind. Subtle movements with the eyes or lips make the audience connect to the character that much more.”
He made a short film with his friend, Dan Lalumia, during his last semester at MCCC. In “Last Night” Manak played the lead role of Mike Luca, a struggling musician playing in the streets of New York City. The movie won “Best Producers” at the college’s film program award show in 2009. He also had lead roles in short films “Dear Abby” and “Rhythm.” He graduated from Mercer in 2012.
Manak does not model because there are too many diet restrictions. “I love burgers and hot dogs too much,” he says. “I did do some print work for John Deere a year and a half back. It was pretty cool. I just prefer movement in front of a camera.”
“We live in an age when financial security is a priority,” says Manak. “It is difficult when you choose to do something else with your life that makes you happy but can’t pay the bills at the moment. I’ve had 100 percent support in the last year, which gives me strength to push forward in this industry. It’s always a gamble but as long as the love for your passion and career doesn’t fade, you’ll always be successful with it.”
His biggest fan was his late grandfather. “He always believed in me. When I used to sing and play at the Grind coffee house in Plainsboro, he and my grandmother would be at every show. He believed in me more than I believed in myself and left me with this strength.”
He had already explored Charlotte, North Carolina, as a place to be after college. “I quit my job at On The Border, packed my things, said goodbye, and headed down to Charlotte to start the next chapter in my life,” says Manak.
“I had about $300 in my pocket, and a few credit cards to help me survive,” says Manak. “I found a place to live with a wonderful couple through AirBNB and I bought a car.”
He had an appointment to meet someone for a job opportunity but submitted to a casting call for extras he found on Facebook. The show was Danny McBride’s “Eastbound and Down.” “The next day I got an E-mail saying I’m booked for two days in Wilmington, North Carolina,” says Manak. “I was so excited. I confirmed. Wilmington is 3.5 hours away from Charlotte. Working on that show was so much fun. I was getting paid to hang out, meet new people, be on a TV show, and be fed. I was beyond happy. At the end of the second day, the extras casting director asked if I could come back for the next three days.”
“Every week after that, I would find out all of the casting websites and Facebook pages. I would drive from Charlotte to Wilmington and Charlotte to Atlanta, Georgia. I have been a nomad for the last two years and I’ve never been happier. Through that time I signed with my agent in February, 2014, and would audition all the time for movies, TV shows, and commercials while working as a stand in, double, and an extra.
“I was up in New Jersey when I had to tape a video audition for ‘Halt and Catch Fire,’” says Manak. “It was on a Thursday night. I knew there would be an in-person callback audition the following Tuesday in Atlanta. I only heard back Monday at 3 p.m. from my agent saying I got the callback and had to report to the location at 11 a.m. the next morning. I freaked out because I was excited but also because I was in New Jersey, had 20 hours to get there, but I was 12.5 hours away and still had to pack and print out new head shots.
“I left two hours later and drove straight to Atlanta and arrived with 20 minutes to spare,” he says. “Long story short, I booked the role. Sometimes you’ve got to do things that seem crazy — but actually are the very things that lead you to that success you’ve always wanted since you were child.”
Manak now has a recurring speaking role on AMC’s “Halt and Catch Fire” airing on Sunday evenings. He was booked to be in six to eight episodes but as filming went on his character was written into all 10 episodes. This is the second season of the show set in 1985, focusing on young people, computers, online communities, video games, and more.
Cooper Andrews has also had a recurring role on the show as Yo-Yo Engberk, another computer nerd. “I think it is really cool that two guys from Plainsboro made it into the TV and film world,” says Manak. “It would inspire other actors/artists to never give up on their dreams and passions. Sometimes you have to leave the place where you grew up in order to succeed and to further grow as a person.”
Andrews, raised in Plainsboro by a single mother, went to West Windsor Day School and then to Dutch Neck School. “My mother supported me from day one,” he says. “My family realized I had no intention of going to college, but they saw how hard I worked and they came around too and have always told me how proud they are of me.”
Adolph Zukor of Paramount Pictures is his great-great uncle and his cousin’s cousin is Idina Menzel. “I’m the only born and raised Samoan Jew I’ve ever heard of,” he says. His sister, 16, has become a dancer. “When she attempted to teach me to tap dance, I almost squashed her,” says Andrews. “I’ve always wanted to make movies and sword fight with Highlander and I wanted to be an actor as much as I wanted to be a filmmaker and they’re both something I’ve wanted to do since childhood.”
He went straight into film after high school in Georgia. “I tried to pick up as much as I could from every set I worked on,” says Andrews. “Everything from lighting, cinematography rules, knowing lens sizes, working with a crew, and more.”
He worked as a boom operator (holding the sound stick over an actor’s head) for 10 years. “This is where I had the most training when it comes to acting,” says Andrews. “I would be privy to private rehearsals with directors and actors and watch their process. So, I guess that’s kind of like college. Working in sound was pivotal for my acting career.”
“I wanted to be a fight choreographer so I started working for free on postings from Craigslist, and yes, it would get sketchy,” he says. “I would work in construction during the day and then sneak into a cemetery at night so that we could steal a shot for a campy horror shoot.”
“Acting has taken care of everything I needed or wanted in the last two years, but I get too antsy to only have one thing going,” says Andrews. He has been working on an End of the World comedy with a friend and they hope to start shooting before the end of the year.
Andrews came in halfway through season one and he is in seven of the 10 episodes this season. “Yo-Yo had a difference of opinion in Episode 4, so we have some drama,” says Andrews. “I did envision myself on both film and television. I had to — otherwise everything I was working so hard for would have felt empty.”
Halt and Catch Fire, Sunday evenings, www.amc.com/shows/halt-and-catch-fire. Season one is available on Netflix.
