Chris Cooper

Christopher Walton Cooper He has an older brother, Chuck Cooper (born 1948). His father was a United States Air Force physician and a cattleman; his mother was a homemaker. Both his parents were from Texas. Cooper grew up in the suburbs of Kansas City, and spent his summers at his family's cattle ranch, about fifteen miles west of Leavenworth, Kansas. While attending Southwest High School in Kansas City, Cooper worked for a local theater company: "I had a background in carpentry, so I could build sets and work in the wings and shift scenes in the evening." After graduating from high school, Cooper became the shop foreman for another repertory company.

Cooper attended the University of Missouri where he enrolled in the theater program, having initially majored in set design. In 1989, he played Ty Cobb in Cobb at the Yale Repertory Theatre.

Career Cooper's early performances include John Sayles' 1987 film Matewan; the 1989 CBS Western miniseries Lonesome Dove; the 1991 indie Western drama Thousand Pieces of Gold, and the 1992 ABC docudrama Bed of Lies, opposite Susan Dey.

His notable later performances include: Money Train, as a psychotic pyromaniac who terrifies toll booth operators; Lone Star, in a leading role as a Texas sheriff charged with solving a decades-old case; as Deputy Dwayne Looney in director Joel Schumacher's 1996 film A Time to Kill (based on the John Grisham novel); as Frank Booker in 1998's The Horse Whisperer; and as a closeted homophobic Marine Corps colonel in American Beauty, a role that garnered him a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. To get into character, Cooper said he "depended on a friend who'd fought in Vietnam. I asked him to go deep. What would this man have done? What would be on his walls? On his desk?"

In 2000, Cooper played Colonel Harry Burwell (inspired by Lieutenant Colonel Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee) in The Patriot. He was nominated for another Screen Actors Guild Award, a BAFTA Award, and won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globe Award in 2003 for playing the role of John Laroche in Adaptation. In 2002, Cooper also appeared in The Bourne Identity as a ruthless CIA special ops director, a role he reprised (in flashbacks) in The Bourne Supremacy.

Cooper received another Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for his supporting role as racehorse trainer Tom Smith in 2003's Seabiscuit. In 2004, Cooper starred in Silver City, playing an inept Republican gubernatorial candidate, a character noted for similarities to U.S. President George W. Bush.

Cooper appeared in three acclaimed films in 2005: Jarhead (which reunited him with American Beauty director Sam Mendes and October Sky actor Jake Gyllenhaal). Capote, and Syriana. He acted in the thriller Breach, playing real-life FBI agent and traitor Robert Hanssen. Cooper commented that Breach was "the first studio film where they've considered me the lead [actor]". In 2007, he appeared as a government agent in dangerous territory in the action thriller The Kingdom and voiced the character Douglas in the film adaptation of Maurice Sendak's book, Where the Wild Things Are (2009).

At the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, Cooper appeared alongside Ben Affleck in The Company Men, early reviews of which praised Cooper's performance as "pitch-perfect".

In 2011, Chris Cooper appeared in The Muppets as Tex Richman, the antagonistic oil tycoon who is unable to laugh. In the musical film, Cooper performed the rap and dance number "Let's Talk About Me".

In 2013, he played Charles Aiken, Sr. in August: Osage County alongside an all-star cast that included Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.

Cooper portrayed Norman Osborn in the 2014 film The Amazing Spider-Man 2. He appeared in an uncredited role in Ben Affleck's crime drama Live by Night, which was released in December 2016.

In 2017, he and Laurie Metcalf starred in A Doll's House, Part 2, a Broadway play by Lucas Hnath based on Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House, for which he received a Tony Award nomination. Cooper played Nora Helmer's husband, Torvald.

In 2019, Cooper starred in two acclaimed films, Marielle Heller's A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, with Tom Hanks, and Greta Gerwig's adaptation of Little Women with an ensemble cast featuring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Timothée Chalamet, Laura Dern, and Meryl Streep.

In 2024, Cooper served as an executive producer of the documentary My Own Normal about Alexander Freeman, a filmmaker from Newton, Massachusetts who has cerebral palsy, following his journey of becoming a partner and father and confronting the pain of his parents' reaction. The documentary premiered at Independent Film Festival Boston.

Personal life

Cooper met his future wife, Marianne Leone, in 1979 at an acting class in New York City. was born three months prematurely in October 1987. Three days after he was born, Jesse suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and developed cerebral palsy. Jesse was eventually mainstreamed into Silver Lake Regional High School, where he became an honor student. Cooper has said that the death of his son has helped him understand several characters he played, such as Charles Aiken in August: Osage County (2013) and Phil Eastwood in Demolition (2015).

Cooper formerly maintained residences in Hoboken, New Jersey, and Plymouth, Massachusetts. He has been close friends with frequent collaborator John Sayles since 1985. On May 14, 2016, Cooper received an honorary doctorate from the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

He and his wife Marianne adopt and live with rescue dogs.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1987 Matewan Joe Kenehan 1991 Guilty by Suspicion Larry Nolan Thousand Pieces of Gold Charlie City of Hope Riggs 1993 This Boy's Life Roy 1995 Pharaoh's Army Captain John Hull Abston Money Train Terry the "Torch" Edwards 1996 Boys John Baker Lone Star Sheriff Sam Deeds Nominated–Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead A Time to Kill Deputy Dwayne Powell Looney 1998 Great Expectations Joe Coleman The Horse Whisperer Frank Booker 1999 The 24 Hour Woman Ron Hacksby October Sky John Hickam American Beauty Colonel Frank Fitts, USMC Online Film Critics Society Award for Best CastScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureNominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role 2000 Me, Myself & Irene Lieutenant Gerke The Patriot Colonel Harry Burwell 2002 Interstate 60 Bob Cody The Bourne Identity Alexander Conklin The Ring Child Murderer Deleted role Adaptation John Laroche Academy Award for Best Supporting ActorBroadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting ActorDallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting ActorFlorida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting ActorGolden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion PictureKansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting ActorLos Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting ActorNational Board of Review Award for Best Supporting ActorSan Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting ActorSan Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting ActorToronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting ActorVancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting ActorVillage Voice Film Poll for Best Supporting PerformanceWashington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated–BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting RoleNominated–Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated–National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated–New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated–Online Film Critics Society Award for Best CastNominated–Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated–Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion PictureNominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureNominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role 2003 Seabiscuit Tom Smith Nominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting RoleNominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture 2004 Silver City Richard 'Dicky' Pilager The Bourne Supremacy Alexander Conklin Uncredited 2005 Capote Alvin Dewey Nominated–Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion PictureNominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Jarhead Lieutenant Colonel Kazinski Syriana Jimmy Pope 2007 Breach Robert Hanssen The Kingdom FBI Agent Grant Sykes Married Life Harry Allen 2008 New York, I Love You Alex Simmons Extreme Movie FBI Agent Mike 2009 Where the Wild Things Are Douglas (voice) 2010 The Tempest Antonio The Company Men Phil Woodward Nominated–Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Remember Me Neil Craig Amigo Colonel Hardacre The Town Stephen MacRay National Board of Review Award for Best CastWashington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best EnsembleNominated–Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast 2011 The Muppets Tex Richman 2012 The Company You Keep Daniel Sloan 2013 August: Osage County Charles Aiken AARP Annual Movies for Grownups Award for Best Supporting ActorCapri Ensemble Cast AwardHollywood Film Award for Ensemble of the YearNominated–Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture 2014 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Norman Osborn Uncredited cameo2015 Fastball Clifford Blankenship (voice) Documentary Demolition Phil Eastwood Coming Through the Rye J. D. Salinger 2016 Live by Night Irving Figgis 2017 Cars 3 Smokey (voice) 2018 Intelligent Lives Narrator 2019 A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood Jerry Vogel Little Women Mr. Laurence Henrietta Bulkowski Danny Wilcox (voice) Short film 2020 Irresistible Marine Colonel Jack Hastings 2021 With/In: Volume 2 Segment: "Nuts"; also director 2023 Boston Strangler Jack MacLaine 2024 My Own Normal Documentary, executive producer 2025 The History of Sound Dr. Lionel Worthing Everything's Going to Be Great WalterTrue ValueNarrator Documentary

Television Year Title Role Notes 1987 The Equalizer Michael Episode: "The Rehearsal" 1988 American Playhouse Louis Halladay Episode: "Journey Into Genius" Miami Vice Jimmy Yagovitch Episode: "Mirror Image" 1989 Lonesome Dove July Johnson Miniseries 1990 Lifestories Mr. Hawkins Episode: "The Hawkins Family" To the Moon, Alice Frank Wiliker Television film 1991 In Broad Daylight Jack Wilson Darrow Eugene V. Debs 1992 Bed of Lies Price Daniel Jr. Ned Blessing: The True Story of My Life Anthony Blessing 1994 One More Mountain James Reed 1996 Law & Order Roy Payne Episode: "Blood Libel" 1997 Breast Men Dr. William Larson Television film 2003 My House in Umbria Thomas Riversmith Television filmNominated–Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a MovieNominated–Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film 2008 American Experience Walt Whitman (voice) Episode: "Walt Whitman" 2009 American ExperienceNarrator (voice) Episode: "The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln" 2010 Bloom: The Plight of Lake ChamplainDocumentary 2012 Bloom: The Emergence of Ecological Design 2016 11.22.63 Al Templeton Miniseries 2020 Homecoming Leonard Geist 6 episodes (season 2)

Video games Year Title Voice role Notes 2017 Cars 3: Driven to Win Smokey

Stage Year Title Role Notes 1980 Of the Fields, Lately Ben Mercer Broadway debut 2017 A Doll's House, Part 2 Torvald Helmer Nominated–Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play

Awards and nominations