Irresistible's Chris Cooper and Mackenzie Davis talk working with cows, Jon Stewart

To create the fictional Deerlaken, Wisconsin for his political satire Irresistible, writer/director Jon Stewart needed to fill his town with a cast that could capture the small-town charm—and lots and lots of cows. Luckily for Stewart, veteran character actor Chris Cooper was a true casting coup: Not only did Cooper grow up in the Midwest, but he also spent a substantial part of his childhood at his family’s cattle ranch. When we spoke with Cooper and his co-star Mackenzie Davis during the virtual press day for Irresistible, the pair confirmed that Cooper was, indeed, the cast’s unofficial bovine expert. The actors also discussed what it was like working with the former Daily Show host behind the camera.