“You got your license, and you got handed the keys to a Lamborghini.’”
That’s what a friend’s father told Cooper Hoffman when he was cast in 2021’s “Licorice Pizza.” And the joy ride lived up to it. In his debut role, Hoffman was a leading man, starring in a feature directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. He notched a Golden Globe nod for his performance. He was just 18 years old, but Hoffman says he “felt like an adult” soaking up the acclaim.
“I kind of thought I was hot shit,” he admits. Then, as he puts it, he got “hit by a truck of insecurity.”
Hoffman wasn’t a total stranger to the industry. His father is the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. His mother, Mimi O’Donnell, was previously the artistic director of Labyrinth Theater Company, where she also directed and produced several stage productions. But while Hoffman was often surrounded by talented actors growing up in New York City, he realized that he would still have to clarify his own relationship to the world they all worked in.
“I was like, ‘Oh, I have no idea what I’m doing at all.’ But I was very certain that I was going to figure it out,” Hoffman says. Then he adds, “By the way, I still don’t know what I’m doing. I’m still trying my best.”
Now 22 years old, the sandy-haired Hoffman hasn’t just regained more confident footing; he’s positioned as one of the film industry’s most promising young actors. On Sept. 12, Lionsgate releases the survival thriller “The Long Walk,” a years-in-the-works adaptation of Stephen King’s first written novel. Headlining in his second-ever lead role, Hoffman achieves a gripping star turn, keeping the film inviting and alive even as his character, the fiercely determined Ray Garraty, endures the extremes of despair.
The horror story follows Garraty as he competes in a contest with one simple rule: keep walking at a speed above three miles per hour. If you slow down, you get a warning. After three warnings, you are shot. The premise is simple, but its physical demands speak for themselves.
“Jesus, we went like 15 miles a day in 100-degree weather. There are moments where you’re forced to be method actors,” Hoffman says, before shrugging. “Whatever ‘method’ means to people. But we are walking. No one is faking that. And it is exhausting.”
A bout of heat rash and many cold baths later, Hoffman is now in Los Angeles, kicking off what will be his most dedicated press tour yet. On “Licorice Pizza,” he only did a handful of interviews, protected by Anderson from the draining gauntlet of awards season. But he’s older now, and, for “The Long Walk,” he’ll do many more.
“We have a ‘global custom content’ day tomorrow,” he tells me, carefully recalling the exact industry terminology. “Never done one of those.”
