- "You're one of the good guys, Barry. You did a horrible thing, but I see your pain. It is the same pain you came to me with fresh out of the army, a lost soul. No one to tell you your worth. I took you in. I taught you to be a good human being."
- ―Gene Cousineau to Barry Berkman
Gene M. Cousineau (b. February 5, 1947) is a former actor and acting teacher who ran an acting class in Los Angeles throughout the 2010s. In 2018, he met and mentored Barry Berkman, becoming a surrogate father figure to him while being unaware of his work as a hitman for several months.
Eventually, Cousineau learned that Barry killed his girlfriend, Janice Moss, and grew bitter and fearful of his former student, which was only exacerbated by Barry's obsessive attempts to make things up to him. He and Jim Moss organized a trap to arrest Barry, but when Barry escaped from prison a few weeks later, Cousineau went into hiding for years.
Around 2027, he came out of hiding to protest an upcoming biopic being made about him and Barry. Through a faulty investigative process, Cousineau was convicted of all of Barry's murders, culminating in him killing Barry when confronted by him. He was incarcerated for life, and the biopic immortalized this new narrative by portraying him as the villain.
Biography[]
Little is known about Cousineau's life before he came to pursue acting. It has been suggested that his career did not quite take off in Hollywood and that throughout it, he gained a reputation for being unpleasant, resulting in various producers and casting agents refusing to work with him. As an older gentleman, he began teaching his own acting class at a local theatre and wrote Hit Your Mark And Say Your Lines, a book on acting.
Despite his pedantic and occasionally greedy attitude, Cousineau became a mentor figure for many of his students, including Barry Berkman and Sally Reed. He also had a son, Leo, and a grandson, Gordon.
Meeting Barry[]
The monologue[]
In 2018, Cousineau met Barry Berkman during one of his acting classes. After getting Sally Reed mad to deliver a better performance, Cousineau watched Barry help out Ryan Madison with his scene. After the class, Cousineau talked to Barry and was blunt about Barry's acting abilities but after Barry delivered a monologue about his depression and his life as a hitman, Cousineau let him join the class.
Ryan's death[]
The next day, Cousineau woke to the news that Ryan was murdered the night prior. Cousineau used this as a way for them to show their grief through acting and later, a memorial show was set up in Ryan's name. Cousineau helped out Barry who was have a difficult time giving a good performance.
The performances go over well and Gene brought Ryan's father, George to it in the hopes of showing how much people cared. During a class, Gene along with the rest of the class were questioned by detectives Janice Moss and John Loach.
Becoming a mentor[]
After his initial meet with Barry, Cousineau became a mentor for Barry. During a rehearsal for Macbeth, Cousineau had to calm Barry down after he lashed out during an argument on whether murder makes you a monster no matter what. Due to Barry's actions, Cousineau along with Sally suspect that Barry may be on drugs.
During the performance of Macbeth, Cousineau was amazed by Barry's delivery and performance, afterward congratulating Barry but after Barry punched a picture, Gene fled.
Tragic love[]
Falling for Janice[]
Cousineau took the investigation as a chance to flirt with Detective Moss, who he instantly became attracted to. He pretended to have relevant information about Ryan's case just as a pretext to invite her to have dinner at a restaurant; despite some initial reluctance, she ended up having a pleasant time with him.
When Janice later visited the acting class again to share a blurry image of Ryan's killer and ask the students to contact her in case they had information, Gene made sure to point out out to the class that he also happened to have her number on his phone. Soon after, she visited Gene's home and they kissed passionately. However, the next morning, Janice said that they needed to end the relationship before it gets serious.
Losing Janice[]
A few weeks later, after the Ryan Madison case was closed, Cousineau and Janice were back together and taking a vacation at Gene's lake house with Barry and Sally. At dinner, Cousineau revealed the monologue that Barry had given about being a hitman.
The next morning, Cousineau woke to Janice missing. When they traveled back to Los Angeles, Gene became absent and grief-stricken. When Barry came to Cousineau about the play, Gene admitted that he was considering suicide and didn't want to go back to the acting class. The next day, Gene went to the class and announced that he would be shutting down the class. He reconsidered however after Barry gave a monologue about the first time he killed someone.
Moving forward[]
A new show[]
The next day, Cousineau announced to the class that they would be holding a show revolved around the event that defined their lives. Gene met with Barry about the play and was hesitant to let Barry change his story until he learned it'd be about Barry's first time meeting him.
Later, after reconnecting with Leo, Cousineau forced Barry to do the story in Afghanistan. One night, Barry came to Gene and learned about the true story of his first kill. Gene was impacted by Barry's story, telling him never to share it. He comforted Barry, explaining his own failed relationship with his son Leo and that everyone can change for the better. When Barry asked if he is a bad person, Gene referred to him as a "human" person.
Reconnecting with Leo[]
Gene decided to talk with his estranged son, Leo. Leo was not interested in reconnecting with his father, as Gene is more interested in speaking about himself and blaming anyone but himself. The meeting prompted Gene to tell Barry that he will have to do the Afghanistan story, as he felt having Barry recreate the scene would be too self-absorbed to Gene.
Cousineau once again tried to reconnect with Leo by giving him his lake house but was rejected once again.
Learning the truth[]
Finding Janice[]
As Barry prepared for his performance in the play, Cousineau was contacted by Barry's handler and ex-friend, Monroe Fuches under the name of Kenneth Goulet. Fuches informed Gene that he had information on the whereabouts of Janice. Cousineau took Fuches to his lake house and the two began scouting the wilderness. Cousineau and Fuches found an abandoned car and found Janice's corpse inside, crushing Gene. Before fleeing, Fuches whispered something into his ear.
Gene sobbed as Barry arrived and the two were taken into custody. Cousineau is left as the prime suspect due to a phone call Fuches made, admitting to the crime and claiming to be Gene. Gene was questioned by Dunn but he failed to answer any of her questions and was taken into custody. Eventually, Gene was let go due to a Chechen pin being at the scene of the crime.
That night, Gene was laying in bed, thinking about what Fuches said to him. He finally realized that Fuches revealed that Barry was the one to kill Janice, shocking him.
Months later, Cousineau was called in for more questioning and claimed that Barry was involved in all the bad things that happened to him, including deciding to close the theater, the police refused to take his accusations seriously. With no help from the police, Gene called Barry and asked him to meet at the theater.
When the two arrived at the theater, Gene admitted to knowing what Barry did and gave him a choice; turn himself in or die. When he attempted to kill Barry, the gun fell apart and then grabbed by Barry.
Kidnapped by Barry[]
Gene was driven to the outskirts of Los Angeles and forced onto his knees. Barry pointed a gun at his head but Cousineau began pleading for his life, Barry told him to get back in the car. Gene was driven around LA with no knowledge of Barry's plan. Eventually, as Barry is away from the car, Gene escaped.
Gene ran through the suburbs, jumping through the fences. During this, he was attacked by a pack of dogs in a backyard. He then reached a waitress outside a shop to ask for help. She doubted his story and pretended to get him a taxi through a phone before going back inside. Gene then saw Barry heading towards him and started running, when another car suddenly crashed with Barry's car.
Gene then ran to his house but was shocked to discover that Barry had already gotten there. While Leo left the room, Barry informed Gene about their new roles, telling him to seize this second chance or he would kill Leo and his grandson. Gene silently agreed. Barry then stated he loves Gene and asks if he felt the same way. Gene nodded, so Barry requested him to say "I love you, Barry" aloud. Gene did, then Barry asked him to say it again.
Gene and Barry soon were on set and Gene questioned Barry about murdering Janice and about Fuches. Gene blamed himself for her death, stating that if he didn't bring up Barry's monologue at his cabin, she would have never suspected Barry and would therefore still be alive.
During their scene, Gene lashed out at Barry and cut off ties with him before running off.
Making amends[]
Gene rushed back home and told Leo that they had to get packing quickly but when his suitcase ripped open, Gene ran to the store for new ones. While he does this, he met with Tom Posorro who informed Gene of his performance going over well. While shopping, they ran into Joe Mantegna, who showed them a Variety article where the show's producers highlighted Gene in a positive way. Tom advised Gene not to squander this chance to be forgiven by Hollywood for his past actions, but Gene insists he must leave Los Angeles.
That night, Gene arrived home and saw that Barry had left him with 250,000 dollars and an apology before leaving. This along with Mantegna's words, convinced Cousineau to stay in Los Angeles.
With this newfound success, Cousineau attended a party hosted by Mantegna. At dinner, Gene apologized for his poor behavior in the past to Mantegna, and also apologized to a woman whom he previously dated, Annie. Annie revealed that Gene had backlisted her and was unwilling to accept an apology.
MasterClass[]
Tom Posorro informed Gene that a powerful producer wanted him to lead his own streaming series, Gene Cousineau MasterClass. Gene would accept but only if Annie worked on the project. Annie refused to work with him, although she was moved when Gene offers to give her all his potential money.
Soon, Gene began filming his MasterClass and had convinced Annie to server as the director. While working, Janice's father Jim Moss arrived at his MasterClass and questioned him about Barry. Cousineau lied to Jim about Barry being a good person before leaving.
Catching Barry[]
Arresting Barry[]
Gene was forced to come to Jim's house and is interrogated in his garage about his knowledge on Barry. Jim repeatedly asked if he loved Janice, and then demanding to know why he was protecting Barry. Gene began to break down and cry.
That night, Gene called Barry, cryptically stating while having a gun that Jim was trying to ruin their lives and that they need to stop him. When Barry arrived, Gene attempted to stop him from going inside. However, this was all an act as when Barry entered, he was ambushed by the police and it was revealed that Gene alongside Jim had set Barry up.
Telling his story[]
The night after catching Barry, Gene called a reporter, Lon O'Neil and intended to reveal how he caught Barry. The next day, Gene met with Lon at a studio and performed a one man show, detailing everything that happened despite some of it being lies to make him look better.
Soon, Gene and Tom were brought to the DA, Buckner who revealed Barry's ties to the FBI and told Cousineau to not speak to anyone about him. As they left, Gene revealed what he said to Lon to Tom who crashed and got angry.
Paranoia takes control[]
Due to his inability to keep the evidence to himself, Tom and Leo brought Cousineau to his lake house with little to no contact with anyone outside. Gene pleaded with them from him to go anywhere else. When he learned of Barry's escape, Gene grew paranoid and waited by the door with a gun. That night, a noise at the door woke Gene up and he shot the door, thinking it was Barry only to be revealed to be Leo.
For eight years, Cousineau was on the run and presumed dead by most people. For a while, Gene lived in Greece and other parts of Europe.
Berkman biopic[]
When Gene heard of a biopic being made about Barry, Gene came to the Warner Brothers Headquarters to try and get the film cancelled but after opposition from Josie, Gene left, still tight on derailing the project. However, Gene changes his mind when a man claiming to be Daniel Day-Lewis's agent calls Gene and informs him Daniel is interested in coming out of retirement to portray him in the biopic.
Later, Gene meets up with the man and becomes interested when he learns Mark Wahlberg is interested in portraying Barry, to the point that Gene starts changing details of Barry to a more sympathetic character in an effort to push for Mark to portray Barry in the film. Eventually, Gene is invited to meet with Mark but it is revealed to have been a trap set up by Jim Moss; he and the police believe Gene is the true mastermind who had manipulated Barry and killed Janice due to her discovering Gene's connections to the Chechen mob.
Killing Barry[]
Unable to defend himself, Gene returns to his home and takes out his gun, presumably to commit suicide, but stops when he hears Barry arrive. Without hesitation, Gene shoots Barry in the shoulder before shooting him in the head, killing him before sitting on his couch without a word.
Unknown to Gene, Barry had decided to turn himself in to prevent Gene from going to prison. Because Barry was unable to confess his crimes and Fuches kept quiet on Barry's activities, Gene is sentenced to life imprisonment, with everyone assuming him to have been responsible for the murder of Janice Moss.
Legacy[]
Years later, a biopic was released and painted the events of Barry's last few years with Gene being the true villain and manipulator of Barry. Gene is shown in the movie as a violent criminal who worked with the Chechens and Ryan before eventually killing Barry for not following orders.
Personality[]
Gene is very passionate about acting, something he appears to prize more than most other thing in his life except money and feeding his ego (which in turn is a big reason for him acting, and when he could no longer book any gigs, for teaching acting). He has a strained relationship with his son, Leo, who claims Gene cared more about his acting students than his own family. His eccentric and somewhat pedantic attitude led him to be considered as an unwanted presence in Hollywood, with suggestions that he was often extremely rude towards others.
Cousineau's confidence sometimes appears to translate into him having deluded view of himself and things he has done. For instance, when trying to teach Barry and push him to take risks, he tells him that he once took a loaded gun into an audition for Full House and the producers "freaked." However, a casting agent later remembers this as an inappropriate incident and a reason for him to avoid associating with Cousineau. When Gene's mood shifts and he is feeling depressed or angry, he becomes more of a realist, such as telling toBarry that because of his history, booking him a new role "could take years".
Despite his unfortunate career, the way Cousineau exudes confidence leads him into success in other areas of his life. When he meets Janice Moss and is attracted to her, he appears too full of himself in his initial interactions, almost as if the romantic relationship was guaranteed to happen; the way he believes in himself and his willingness to take risks lead him to trick her into a date under false pretenses, yet it creates an experience through which Janice falls for him.
As an acting teacher, although Gene is clearly greedy (as shown when he charges for a full class despite not teaching it), he does get through to his students successfully and becomes a mentor figure for them, particularly Barry and Sally Reed. Gene's lessons are intense, as he wants the students to use real, raw emotion to affect their acting, as seen when he starts humiliating Sally in front of the other students and causes her to become angry and yell at him, at which point his demeanor changes entirely as he urges her to then act a scene. When dealing with his own depression, Cousineau is motivated by the idea of acting through trauma, wanting students to delve into their personal traumas in order to deal with what ails them while achieving great acting skills.
Gene's obsession with the spotlight remains unchanged many years later when he changes his motivations in shutting down a biopic that could glorify Barry when he is told that famous actors are interested in working on the film.
Appearances[]
| Season 2 | ||||
| The Show Must Go On, Probably? | The Power of No | Past = Present x Future Over Yesterday | What?! | |
| ronny/lily | The Truth Has a Ring to It | The Audition | Berkman/block | |
| Season 3 | ||||
| Forgiving jeff | Limonada | Ben mendelsohn | All the sauces | |
| Crazytimeshitshow | 710N | Candy asses | Starting now | |
| Season 4 | ||||
| Yikes | Bestest place on the earth | You're charming | It takes a psycho | |
| Tricky legacies | The wizard | A nice meal | Wow | |
Trivia[]
- Gene is Jewish.[2]
Gallery[]
Stills[]
References[]
[]
| Principal Characters | Barry Berkman ā¢ Monroe Fuches ā¢ Sally Reed ā¢ NoHo Hank ā¢ Gene Cousineau ā¢ Mae Dunn ā¢ Jim Moss ā¢ Goran Pazar |
| Recurring Characters | Cristobal Sifuentes ā¢ Natalie Greer ā¢ Albert Nguyen ā¢ Janice Moss ā¢ Lindsay Mandel ā¢ Leo Cousineau ā¢ Katie Harris ā¢ John Loach ā¢ Tom Posorro |
| Notable Guest Characters | Ryan Madison ā¢ Chris Lucado ā¢ Jermaine Jefrint ā¢ Sasha Smith ā¢ Nick Nicholby ā¢ Eric ā¢ Antonio Manuel ā¢ Taylor Garrett ā¢ Krauss ā¢ Akhmal ā¢ Yandar ā¢ Batir ā¢ Vacha ā¢ Fernando ā¢ Mayrbek ā¢ Esther ā¢ Shane Taylor ā¢ Lon O'Neil ā¢ Kristen |