Of Minor Prophets – Behind the Scenes with Actor Cora Vander Broek

The role of Ami in Of Minor Prophets is by no means an easy role to play. It’s a gritty, emotional and gut-wrenchingly visceral depiction of a sex worker’s life. For lead female actor Cora Vander Broek, the opportunity to play Ami presented a unique but exciting challenge, and it was a challenge she couldn’t turn down.

We took some time to take a deep dive with Cora and talk about her experience playing Ami in Of Minor Prophets. From the pros and cons of working with your best friends, the satisfaction of on-set collaboration and the serendipity of being unexpectedly cat-called by random men, Cora tells us what made her Of Minor Prophets experience unforgettably rewarding.

Can you share some of your background and what got you into acting?
So I was a missionary kid until I was about 14. My parents lived overseas—first in Indonesia and then primarily in Honduras from age 8 to 14. My dad was a bush pilot, so he flew into primitive areas and my mom taught English. At age 14, my family retired from the mission base and mission organization they worked for. Then we moved back to Northwest Iowa, where my mom was originally from.

By the time I got there, I was a freshman in high school. Around that time, I kind of fell into acting. I got really involved in the speech department in my high school and that segued nicely into acting. When I graduated from high school, because I had moved around quite a bit when I was younger, I really needed, emotionally, to just plant and stay put.

I was fortunate that there was a small, liberal arts college, Northwestern College, in the town we had moved to [Orange City, Iowa]. They had a really strong theatre department, so I decided to stay in Orange City. I majored in theatre and had a wonderful experience there. It was a very nurturing environment.

My professors—Karen and Jeff Barker, predominantly—and really all of the people on staff in the theatre department were really inspiring to me. Several of the professors at Northwestern had ties to Chicago, and because of those ties and how much they talked up Chicago, that was just the natural next step for me when I graduated from college. So I went straight there after graduating and have been there for 15, almost 16 years now.

I love Chicago. It’s a great theatre town. It’s a great town to go to if you want to start working right away. If you’re worried about waiting to get an agent or joining the union, for the most part in Chicago, there are enough storefront theatres that you can start learning and pounding the pavement quite quickly. So that was a draw to me.

Now I do theatre here locally and regionally, and in the last 4-5 years I’ve been transitioning to film, TV and commercial work, which I really enjoy. And I live in Chicago with my husband, who is also an actor.

So what drew you to Of Minor Prophets?
I got involved through screenwriter Jeff Barker, who was a professor of mine at Northwestern. Jeff was in Chicago with his wife and I happened to swing by and visit with them. I was chatting with Jeff and he mentioned he was working on a draft of a screenplay. He shared a little bit about it with me and I was interested and told him I would love to read it.

I was really drawn to the character of Ami in the film, and Jeff shared with me that Joe Hubers was directing it through Passenger. So I asked for Joe’s contact info, contacted him, and told him, “I’d like be considered for this role. I’d love to audition or interview with you or whatever.” Luckily he agreed to chat with me and things went from there.

I was really excited and loved the script right away. I loved that it was set in the Midwest. I loved how Jeff and Joe’s vision for the film really brought together two people from very different worlds and how they intertwined those two people, and how, where at first you see two people who seem vastly different, by the end you see their commonalities. There’s a deep loneliness in both characters and I think they begin to heal in each other.

And I loved that. I loved the message of grace and hope and second chances in the film. I also loved the beauty of—and I could tell this just from reading the script—the beauty of Iowa and its landscape versus the underbelly darkness of Ami’s world. And I was just really impressed with how Jeff and Joe were able to bring these two very opposite worlds together and somehow have it make sense. And I was excited to help in navigating that process.

I was also really excited to play Ami and make her relatable. That seemed like an exciting challenge to me. When you think of a sex worker or prostitute, I think that seems very alien to most people. And I really wanted to make Ami someone that you would relate with and maybe want to be friends with and maybe even fall in love with too. And that was important to me and I was excited about that challenge.

What were some of the other challenges you faced while making the film?
In terms of portraying Ami, it was a fine line. I wanted to make her relatable, but, at the same time, there are some things about her that are ugly and messy. And in an effort to make her relatable, you don’t want to go too far off the mark and muddy the messiness of her.

For instance, I think she makes some poor choices in regards to how she parents her child. She has this young child, and there are some things that happen in the film that I think most people would have a big problem with. And rather than trying to shy away from that messiness, I think it was important to go there without apology.

Granted I was helped by Joe’s direction and Jeff’s writing. I mean, I don’t’ think Joe would’ve let me wishy-wash my way through that, but I remember as an actor thinking, “It’s OK to make Ami not likable right now. It’s ok to make her ugly or mean or abusive or selfish.” And I think it was a challenge to remember that throughout the process.

I think one unique, exciting thing about the film was that a lot of the people I worked with were some of my closest friends. I mean close, intimate friends that I had friendships and history with. And that was simultaneously wonderful, but it was difficult too because sometimes you have to forget that you know this person so well. Sometimes as an actor, it’s nice to walk into a first rehearsal and not know anyone because you can be whoever you want to be to those people. It’s harder to walk into a rehearsal or a first day of shooting knowing, “Oh my gosh, these people know me and they know my tricks, and they know the good parts of me and the bad parts of me.” So there’s no hiding, and it upped the ante a little bit for me. I guess that was a blessing and a challenge as well.

Regarding the filming process, it’s interesting… I’ve had moments working on productions where the out-of-sequence nature of the process was really difficult, but for some reason, I don’t remember that with this process. I just remember it flowing very nicely. So the challenges mainly for me were finding Ami’s complexity and not being afraid to go all-in even with these people that I knew so well all around me.

What were some of your favorite parts of filming Of Minor Prophets?
I think some of my favorite things were the serendipitous moments that happened while filming. There’s a quick shot near the beginning of the film with Ami walking through a truck stop… walking in and around semi-trucks that are just idling late at night. That was a shot that we got so quickly. It was about to storm, there was lightning, it was a skeleton crew of me, Joe, Dalton, Brett. We ran out there and they were just following me as I was walking between these idling semis. And for the first time, I think I really kind of felt like, “Oh my gosh, this is what many women, especially women who are forced into prostitution, do. And how frightened and alone and vulnerable I felt walking in between those semis.

But what happened is I was walking toward this big garage in the distance, and there were a number of men working in this garage. They all kind of walked to the front of the garage and they were backlit, and I couldn’t see their faces, but they all started heckling me and yelling and whistling. And I knew I was safe because Dalton and Joe and Brett were walking right behind me, but it just happened and Dalton captured that moment and it was chilling and frightening and beautiful all at the same time. And I loved that moment.

There were also a number of scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor that featured Ami with various Johns. And they weren’t anything gratuitous or inappropriate—just Ami riding in a car or exchanging money with a John—but they were simple and there were moments of humor. I got to work with a lot of local actors in the area who were professional and lovely and very accessible even in a short amount of time. That was meaningful to me because even though we didn’t end up using some of those moments, it helped set up Ami’s backstory for me. Because I could imagine these encounters as we moved forward with the film, and that was really helpful.

And then just late-night moments. I remember some of the nasty, scuzzy motel rooms we had to hang out in for days on end and how gross it was and how we just made it through. All of us trying to avoid some of the yuckiness and laughing about it together. Those are some of the really fond memories that I have.

So what was it like working with a crew that, for the most part, was producing its first full-length film?
I felt like it was incredibly smooth. Honestly, it felt incredibly professional to me. I say that because, since then, I’ve worked on a few bigger sets for some large network projects, and the professionalism I experienced on the Of Minor Prophets set was far better and more organized than other experiences I’ve had on some of those bigger sets—in terms of organization, receiving the information I needed to do my work right and prepare, and that kind of thing.

So I was beyond impressed. And I also think the luxury—and I’ve had to remind myself that I had this luxury with this process—is that where maybe some of the crew were relatively newer, what they had in spades was a willingness to collaborate, to share with me what they knew, what they were exploring… I felt like I was part of the collaboration. I wasn’t left out or treated with kid gloves because I was the actor. I felt like a collaborator with them. And on any other major set, I’m not sure that would be the case. I’m not sure I would’ve had as much of a voice as I did as far as sharing my thoughts on a particular scene or take. And Jeff Barker was incredibly collaborative on sharing his script, which doesn’t always happen.

That to me, I would take over any huge budget production. I mean obviously I love the money [laughs], but other than that, to feel like I was part of creating something beyond the acting aspect of the project was such a gift to me. I mean I can’t think of a single moment where I thought “Oh my gosh, this isn’t being run well.” I never thought “Oh, this crew seems green to me.” If anything, I felt like I was learning so much from them.

I remember sitting across from Joe when I first flew in and talking with him and thinking, “Oh my gosh, he knows so much more than I do. I hope I can rise to his level.” And when I heard about the film, I looked up Passenger and watched their reel and some of their stuff and thought, “I’ll be lucky to be part of this.” And I’m not just blowing smoke up people’s asses. So put that.

I really mean that. It’s sort of become the gold standard I now compare other projects with. It has helped me be able to realize, “Oh, this project is so not worth it” because of the experience I had on Of Minor Prophets.

And what are your thoughts on the finished product?
I love it. I love it so much. I think everyone involved captured the raw beauty that I initially saw in the script. Like, I feel as if you see these two worlds come together in a surprising, beautiful way. I like that it resists the temptation to box in these particular people and resists the temptation to tie it all up at the end. That was really exciting to me when I first read it, and I was really hoping that would be maintained through the final product, and I felt that it was. And that just makes me so proud.

One of the things I love—I love watching films—and the ones I love the most are the ones that keep me wondering after and keep me thinking, and I feel this film does that. And I like the fact that I have hope at the end, but I don’t know. And that sense of mystery is very exciting to me. And I just think it’s beautiful. I think it’s a very beautiful film, visually and emotionally.

What did you learn during the filming of OMP?
As an actor and an artist, I learned to be better at speaking my mind and voicing my opinions. And that whether my opinions are taken and used or not, it’s important to be fully invested in the collaboration—to bring your all to it. Because, if you don’t, you’re robbing the process of your insight and vice versa. So I think I learned that I have a voice and it’s worthy of expressing.

I also learned the importance of collaborating with people you respect and admire and people who are your friends. That it’s really important and it’s usually where special things happen. When you’re working with people you trust, but also really like.

I feel like everyone I collaborated with is part of my inner circle. And there’s no question that I will collaborate with these people again. I feel like they’re part of my family now. So I’ve come away with a richer sense of collaboration. And when you’re working with people who know you, they up your game. My best friend played Sunny in the film, and there are a number of moments in this film that I couldn’t have done if she and Joe hadn’t been on the other end of the camera coaching me. They helped me get to those places that I wouldn’t have been able to get to without them. And that’s special to me.