Cooper Hoffman balances his father's legacy in The Long Walk

Cooper Hoffman, the 22-year-old rising actor and son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, says his career is unfolding in a way that both honors his father’s legacy and forces him to navigate his own path. In a recent interview, Hoffman reflected on his decision to pursue acting after initially planning to avoid Hollywood, the enduring pull of his father’s work, and how the upcoming Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk has personal resonance as he confronts themes of grief and family loss on screen. The film, directed by Francis Lawrence, is slated for a September release.

Hoffman’s professional debut arrived in Licorice Pizza (2021), directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, a filmmaker who previously collaborated with his father on multiple projects. Since then, Hoffman has continued to build momentum with roles in Saturday Night and an off-Broadway run of Curse of the Starving Class earlier this year. Yet amid the rapid ascent, he described a tug toward a different life before acting “like, Central Saint Martins,” hinting that his early dreams included fashion design. The tension between ambition and lineage became starkly personal as he prepared for the stage and screen roles that...