Breaking into Hollywood is never simple and, for Cooper Hoffman, the climb to the top comes with an extra layer of legacy. The son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cooper is carving his own path, with a major release on the 2025 movie schedule. At the same time, the younger Cooper is candid about finding his way without his dad by his side. Before every shoot, he has a simple reset: he cues up one of his father’s performances, and his choice is inspired.
22-year-old Cooper Hoffman shared the ritual on TODAY while promoting his new Stephen King adaptation, the upcoming The Long Walk, and talking about following in his father’s footsteps. On the subject of his “favorite” entry from his dad’s filmography, Hoffman said:
The Master is my favorite. I watch it every time before I’m about to go shoot a movie. Because it just has everything. It has love, a relationship, friendship, parental guidance, a cult. It’s all there.
It’s hard to argue with the choice. The Master is and will probably always be my favorite PTA flick. Without a doubt, it’s one of Paul Thomas Anderson’s best movies. However, pairing Philip Seymour Hoffman’s magnetic performance as a cult leader and Joaquin Phoenix’s combustible drifter, this drama film is a stellar two-hander. It also earned the elder Hoffman an Oscar nomination and remains a modern acting showcase.
Legacy isn’t a small thing to shoulder, and Cooper doesn’t pretend it is. He told the morning show that following a giant can be daunting, especially with an Academy Award literally within sight. However, the work itself clarified his path: do the job, learn by doing, keep going until it no longer feels right. “I’ll do it until I don’t want to anymore,” he added, a reminder that his career is something he’s choosing day by day, not something he’s trapped by.
For the young star, the rewatch functions as both a study and a touchstone reminder of scale and subtlety but also a way to carry a piece of his dad onto each new set, as he builds his own legacy.
Cooper Hoffman made his debut with Anderson’s Licorice Pizza and has been choosing projects that stretch him, from comedy-drama to dystopian thriller. Now, he continues to build out his filmography with The Long Walk. In the flick, Hoffman plays Raymond Garraty, a teenager thrust into a deadly state-sanctioned endurance contest. The production demanded real miles, and Hoffman has said the cast walked long stretches in triple-digit heat, tallying close to 400 miles over the shoot, which is a grind that forged a tight, on-set brotherhood.
There’s a small grace in Hoffman’s selection. The Master isn’t just one of “his dad’s best,” but it’s also a study in connection and control. The film is an example of how people save or break each other, and how belief can comfort or consume. For a young actor stepping into roles that ask for stamina and steadiness, that’s a practical syllabus. The fact that it also keeps him close to his dad is a bonus he seems to embrace.
Cooper Hoffman’s upcoming horror movie, The Long Walk, hits theaters on September 12.