Cooper Hoffman

Born in 2003,^[2] Hoffman is the son of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman and costume designer Mimi O'Donnell.^[3] He has two younger sisters.^[4] His father died when Cooper was 10 years old. In his will, Philip Hoffman wished for his son to live in Manhattan, New York City; Chicago, Illinois; or San Francisco, California.^[5]

Growing up, Cooper did not seriously consider becoming an actor. His only involvement in school plays was as part of the stage crew but he did participate in making short films with his friends, including family friend Paul Thomas Anderson, a director, and Anderson's son, Jack.^[6][7][8]

Cooper Hoffman made his film debut in Licorice Pizza (2021),^[9] written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, a frequent collaborator of his late father.^[10][11][12] For Hoffman's performance, he received critical acclaim and was nominated for, among other awards, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.^[13]

In 2023, he acted in the Flannery O'Connor biopic Wildcat, directed by Ethan Hawke, who is also an actor. The film premiered at the 50th Telluride Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado.^[14] In 2024, Hoffman played Dick Ebersol in the biographical comedy-drama Saturday Night. The film's director was Jason Reitman.^[15]

In 2025, Hoffman starred in The Long Walk based on the novel by Stephen King and directed by Francis Lawrence, who had previously worked with Hoffman's late father.^[16] About taking the role of a young man grieving from the loss of his father like Hoffman had himself, Hoffman said: "When your trauma is on display for the world, there's no actually hiding it... 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... 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."^[17]