Lead Limited or Anthology Series Actor Actor
Were you watching the nominations being announced?
I am jet lagged because I was in London yesterday at Wimbledon, which was the best weekend of my life. I was in Europe for a week, so I went to bed at 8:30 a.m. and then woke up at 3 a.m. and then never went back to sleep. I watched the nominations with my brother and my mom and my partner. It was the first [category] out the gate. It was intense. And then being the last one read, I was like, “Oh, god.”
Let’s go back to your first day on set. Did you think your journey would include an Emmy nomination?
Because “Dahmer” did so well, I was like, “OK, there’s a shot here.” But you never know. It feels so amazing and validating to be recognized like this. But just doing the show and having the experience, and working with Ryan and Ari and Nicholas and Javier and Chloe and the whole cast and crew and everybody, that’s really the true gift of it all.
How will you celebrate tonight?
It’s my birthday tomorrow so this was a great birthday present. My grandparents are taking us [Koch and his twin brother Peyton] to Nobu tonight.
Have you spoken to Erik and Lyle Menendez recently?
I was messaging them in the last couple of days because we saw that there was news on the habeas corpus. Wait, I’m literally getting a call right now from R.J. Donovan [Correctional Facility]. Can I call you back?
[10 minutes later]
Was that Erik?
No, it was Lyle to congratulate me, which was very very sweet.
Is that surreal for you?
Kind of, but also it’s not, because I know them now. I feel like they’re my friends, like my brothers. So it does kind of feel normal. It’ll feel way better when they’re out of there.
What did Lyle say?
He was just like, “Congratulations, I’m so excited for you. I saw you were at Wimbledon. I was so jealous.” I said, “Well, I’ve been back in tennis lessons, so I’m getting ready to play you and beat you when you’re out.”
I’m sure you’ll talk to Erik later.
Exactly. I’ll hear from him later.
You were just cast in Luca Guadagnino’s AI film “Artificial” with Andrew Garfield. How did that come about? Did you have to audition?
I was flying home from Paris Fashion Week and the second I landed, I got a call from my team saying that Luca offered me a part in the film. The offer just came in. It was so shocking, but also felt amazing. I’ve been having a lot of self-doubt and questioning things and wondering where the next part is going to be, so for it to come in so randomly… I’m blessed.
It’s being called a comedic drama about artificial intelligence. Is there anything funny about AI anymore?
I don’t know if I can say anything. I’m not sure what I can say. My lips are sealed. Sorry.
You’ve probably seen some interesting AI depictions of you on the internet.
I haven’t seen any of me, but I’ve seen animals doing the Olympics diving on TikTok.
On a serious note, a lot of people in Hollywood are worried about losing jobs to AI or unauthorized use of their likeness. Does it make you nervous?
It doesn’t really make me nervous because I just don’t think like my soul and my person can be truly replicated by a computer. I think I’m too special for that.