Cooper Hoffman Would Be ‘Terrified’ for Dad Philip Seymour Hoffman to See His Acting

Cooper Hoffman wishes he could ask his late dad, Philip Seymour Hoffman, for acting advice, but, above all, he wishes he could just have him around.

The 22-year-old recently spoke to GQ about his burgeoning career as his new movie, an adaptation of Stephen King’s The Long Walk, is set to hit theaters on Sept. 12. He stars in the film, directed by Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence, alongside Rye Lane star David Jonsson.

Following a string of successes in films like Licorice Pizza and Saturday Night, Cooper made his stage debut in the off-Broadway revival of Sam Shepard’s Curse of the Starving Class earlier this year.

“I was like, ‘I’m so ill-prepared for this,’” Cooper said in the Aug. 19 interview about his acting in the show. “The only person I really wanted to talk to was my dad.”

“He’s my favorite actor, but he’s also my dad,” Cooper continued. “He’s also not here. A lot of people idolize their parents because they’re great parents. It’s a different thing to idolize your parent because you love their art.”

Philip, who died in 2014 at age 46, was widely considered one of the greatest actors of his generation. He won an Academy Award for his performance in 2005’s Capote and received nominations for Charlie Wilson’s War, Doubt and The Master.

He first received acclaim for his work as a supporting actor in movies like 1997’s Boogie Nights, 1998’s The Big Lebowski and 1999’s The Talented Mr. Ripley.

“So, as much as I would love him to be here and talk to him about acting, I also would be terrified to have him see my stuff and judge my stuff,” Cooper continued. “Not that he would judge it, because he was a very empathetic person, and he would probably — hopefully — hold my hand through all of it.”

Although Cooper, who was 10 when his dad died, “wanted to do everything but act” as a kid, he has since followed in his legendary father’s footsteps — and would have loved to share that with him.

“I get to figure this out on my own,” he added. “But also, I would love his advice. And I would also just love my dad.”

In The Long Walk, Cooper’s character, Raymond Garraty, is grieving the loss of his own father. Asked if he had apprehensions about taking on that role, he told GQ, “Oh my God, how can you not? How can you not see in bold letters, ‘HIS DAD DIED’? It’s just going to be there.”

It was helpful, he said, that the movie’s director was working with Philip on The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 2 at the time of his death. The actor played Plutarch Heavensbee in the final three Hunger Games movies.

“When your trauma is on display for the world, there’s no actually hiding it,” Cooper said of losing his dad. “I’m like, I might as well talk about it, or I might as well put it into something. Because if I keep hiding it and running from it, that’s not fair to anyone else who has gone through that.”

Of his role in the film, he said, “I’m here to display this person and this experience as honestly as I can, and hopefully someone else watches it and goes, He sees me, he understands me. And that’s, in my opinion, the only reason to do any sort of art.”

“When you experience death at a young age, you think that you’ve experienced everything in life. And then you haven’t,” he said. 

Cooper, whose mom is costume designer Mimi O’Donnell, began his acting career at age 17 in Licorice Pizza, directed by family friend Paul Thomas Anderson. He also appeared in 2023’s Wildcat and 2024’s Old Guy and Saturday Night. In addition to The Long Walk, he stars in Poetic License, which will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this September. His other upcoming roles include I Want Your Sex with Olivia Wilde and Artificial with Andrew Garfield and Monica Barbaro. Cooper also has two younger sisters, Tallulah and Willa. 

Philip rarely discussed his personal life, but told Esquire of fatherhood in 2012, “The thing I realized when I became a father is why parents stay and why they take off. The love you feel and the responsibilities you feel, I can see why some people go. They think, ‘I’m never going to make this.’ Because it puts all of the heartbreaks you’ve had in your life in perspective.”

“You’re like, ‘Oh, I thought that was a broken heart.’ That’s been my experience,” he continued. “Now I’m sure there are some people whose relationships with kids are different. My kids are just, uh, they’re good. They’re just good kids, man.”