Cooper Hoffman, son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, is stepping out from under the protective wing of his father's old collaborators and taking on deliberately provocative roles, notably in Gregg Araki's boundary-pushing film I Want Your Sex. The Hollywood Reporter profile traces his journey from unexpected overnight stardom in Licorice Pizza to a more deliberate, risk-taking phase of his career at 23, as he seeks to establish his own identity while carrying his father's legacy.

Early in his career, Hoffman gravitated towards familiar territory, working with people connected to his father, including Ethan Hawke on Wildcat, Jason Reitman on Saturday Night, and Francis Lawrence, the last director to work with Philip Seymour Hoffman, on The Long Walk. He also recalls being sent by Licorice Pizza director Paul Thomas Anderson to work as a lowly production assistant on Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans as a grounding exercise, during which he had a memorable brief encounter with Spielberg himself. Actor Andrew Garfield notes that many older actors, drawn by affection for both Hoffman and his father, want to mentor him, though Hoffman is now choosing more challenging, unconventional projects such as I Want Your Sex and the film Artificial.