“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,” he said

Philip Seymour Hoffman; Cooper Hoffman

Philip Seymour Hoffman in Park City, Utah, on Jan. 17, 2014; Cooper Hoffman in Beverly Hills, California, on March 11, 2022.Credit : Michael Loccisano/Getty; Michael Kovac/Getty

Cooper Hoffman is missing his dad not only as a parent, but as an artist.

In an interview with GQ pegged to his new Stephen King film The Long Walk, the 22-year-old actor reflected on his feelings over not being able to connect with the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.

“He’s my favorite actor, but he’s also my dad,” said Cooper. “He’s also not here.”

And while “a lot of people idolize their parents because they’re great parents,” the Licorice Pizza star said, “It’s a different thing to idolize your parent because you love their art.”

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NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 01: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Cooper Alexander Hoffman attend the Portland Trail Blazers vs New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden on January 1, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by James Devaney/FilmMagic)

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Cooper Hoffman in New York City on Jan. 1, 2013.James Devaney/FilmMagic

“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 added.

But, he insisted, “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.”

One moment Cooper would have loved Philip’s thoughts on especially was earlier this year, as he made his stage debut in an Off-Broadway revival of Curse of the Starving Class by Sam Shepard.

“The only person I really wanted to talk to was my dad,” he said of that time period.

In terms of his career going forward, though, “I get to figure this out on my own,” Cooper told GQ. “But also, I would love his advice. And I would also just love my dad.”

Joshua Odjick as Parker, Jordan Gonzalez as Harkness, David Jonsson as McVries, Cooper Hoffman as Garraty, and Charlie Plummer as Barkovitch in The Long Walk.

From L: Joshua Odjick, Jordan Gonzalez, David Jonsson, Cooper Hoffman and Charlie Plummer in The Long Walk (2025).Murray Close/Lionsgate

In the upcoming feature-film adaptation of King’s 1979 novel The Long Walk, Cooper portrays Ray Garraty, who enters a deadly contest that forces participants to keep up a minimum walking pace without stopping until only one remains.

Asked by GQ if he was apprehensive about taking on the role of a teenager who’s grieving the death of his father as he embarks on the deadly walk, Cooper replied, “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.”

And for Cooper — whose father died at age 46 in 2014, when his son was only 10 years old — the screenplay resonated with him in a visceral way.

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

The Long Walk is in theaters Sept. 12.