Scott Cooper | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | April 20, 1970 Abingdon, Virginia, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Hampden–Sydney College |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, screenwriter, director, producer |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Spouse | Jocelyne Cooper |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Todd Cooper (brother) |
Scott Cooper (born April 20, 1970) is an American director, screenwriter, producer and former actor. He is known for writing and directing Crazy Heart (2009), Out of the Furnace (2013), Black Mass (2015), Hostiles (2017), and Antlers (2021).
Cooper was born in Abingdon, Virginia. [1] He is a 1988 graduate of Abingdon High School. Cooper trained as an actor at Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York City. [2] He received both his undergraduate degree in 1992 and his Doctor of Humane Letters in 2014 from Hampden–Sydney College in Hampden Sydney, Virginia. [3]
Cooper spent a decade working as an actor in film and television. [4]
He made the switch to directing with 2009's Crazy Heart , [5] starring Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal. [6] The film, released by Fox Searchlight Pictures, received widespread critical acclaim and a number of accolades, including the Academy Awards for Best Actor (Bridges) and Best Original Song.
Among Crazy Heart's fans were director Ridley Scott and producer Michael Costigan, as well as executives at Leonardo DiCaprio's production company, Appian Way. Cooper was offered the opportunity to develop The Low Dweller, a spec script written by Brad Ingelsby that had DiCaprio and Scott attached, as actor and director respectively. [7] Cooper rewrote the script, drawing on his experience of growing up in Appalachia and losing a sibling at a young age. [8]
Relativity Media put the film, now titled Out of the Furnace , into production in 2012, with Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson and Casey Affleck leading the ensemble cast. Cooper directed the film, and shared writing credit with Ingelsby. DiCaprio and Scott remained as producers. [9]
In January 2014, Cooper became attached to rewrite and direct Black Mass , [10] a crime drama based the book of the same name by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill, [11] described as the "true story of Billy Bulger, Whitey Bulger, FBI agent John Connolly and the FBI's witness protection program that was created by J. Edgar Hoover." [12] Barry Levinson had previously been involved with the project. [13] Johnny Depp, who had been on and off the project for a number of years, came back on board to play the infamous Boston crime boss Whitey Bulger, [14] alongside Joel Edgerton as Connolly and Benedict Cumberbatch as Billy Bulger. [15] The film was released in 2015. [16] In 2016, he sold his home in Brentwood for $3.6 million and it was widely covered in the media. [17] [18]
Cooper wrote, directed and produced the 2017 western Hostiles , based on a decades old manuscript by the late screenwriter Donald E. Stewart. [19] The film reteamed Cooper with his Out of the Furnace star, Bale, alongside Rosamund Pike. It had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, with US distribution rights picked up by Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures. [20] Cooper's next film was the supernatural horror story Antlers , starring Keri Russell and Jesse Plemons and co-produced by Guillermo del Toro, which was released in 2021. [21] [22]
In January 2024 it was announced that Cooper would be writing and directing a film based on the making of Bruce Springsteen's 1982 album Nebraska . [23] The film will be titled Deliver Me from Nowhere and will be based on the 2023 book written by Warren Zanes. Former Netflix Films chairman Scott Stuber is set to produce the film] with Jeremy Allen White playing the role of Springsteen. Springsteen and his manager Jon Landau will also be involved in the making of the film. Originally reported to be in production at A24, it was later revealed to have been acquired by 20th Century Studios. [24] [25]
In 2019, it was announced Cooper would direct Valhalla with Christian Bale starring, as well as a film adapting Jess Walter’s Over Tumbled Graves. [26]
Thomas Wolfe and William Faulkner are literary influences. [27] [4]
Films that have influenced Cooper include: Robert Altman's Nashville, Terrence Malick's Badlands, John Huston's Fat City and Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show . [4]
His principal film-making mentor has been veteran actor, producer and director, Robert Duvall. He and Duvall met on the set of Gods and Generals and struck up a friendship. Cooper was married on Duvall's 300-acre (1.2 km2) Virginia estate. [28] The two appeared together in Broken Trail and Get Low , and Duvall produced and appeared in Cooper's film Crazy Heart, along with an appearance in The Pale Blue Eye .
Cooper is married and lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Jocelyne Cooper, and their son Aria and two daughters, Ava and Stella.
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Crazy Heart | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2013 | Out of the Furnace | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2015 | Black Mass | Yes | No | Yes |
| 2017 | Hostiles | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2021 | Antlers | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2022 | The Pale Blue Eye | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2025 | Deliver Me from Nowhere | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Dry Martini | Robert | |
| 1999 | Perfect Fit | Guy in bar | |
| Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me | Klansman's Son – Bobby | ||
| 2000 | Takedown | Jake Cronin | Also known as Hackers 2: Takedown |
| 2001 | Bill's Gun Shop | Dillion McCarthy | |
| Rain | Pvt. Holland | ||
| 2003 | Gods and Generals | Lt. Joseph Morrison | |
| Save It for Later | Jake O'Connor | Also known as Water Under the Bridge | |
| Attitude | Rails | ||
| 2009 | For Sale by Owner | Will Custis | Also the writer and co-producer |
| Get Low | Carl |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | The X-Files | Max Harden | Episode: "Rush" |
| 2001 | The District | Michael Barrett | Episode: "Lost and Found" |
| 2006 | Broken Trail | Gilpin | Miniseries |
Work Actor | 2009 | 2013 | 2015 | 2017 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Bower | ||||||
| Ryan Bingham | ||||||
| Robert Duvall | ||||||
| Dicky Eklund, Jr. | ||||||
| Mark Falvo | ||||||
| Christian Bale | ||||||
| Dendrie Taylor | ||||||
| Rory Cochrane | ||||||
| Jesse Plemons | ||||||
| Scott Anderson | ||||||
| Bill Camp | ||||||
| Ava Cooper | ||||||
| Stella Cooper | ||||||
Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the science fiction, crime, and historical drama genres, with an atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. He ranks among the highest-grossing directors and has received many accolades, including the BAFTA Fellowship for Lifetime Achievement in 2018, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Golden Globe Award. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003, and appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire by King Charles III in 2024.
John Christopher Depp II is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for three Academy Awards and two BAFTA awards. His films, in which he has often played eccentric characters, have grossed over $8 billion worldwide, making him one of Hollywood's most bankable stars.
Brett Ratner is an American film director and producer. He directed the Rush Hour film series, The Family Man, Red Dragon, X-Men: The Last Stand, Tower Heist, and Hercules. He is a producer of several films, including the Horrible Bosses series, as well as executive producer on other projects, including the films The Revenant and War Dogs and the television series Prison Break.
Barry Lee Levinson is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Levinson won the Academy Award for Best Director for Rain Man (1988). His other best-known works are similarly mid-budget comedy drama and drama films such as Diner (1982), The Natural (1984), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Bugsy (1991), and Wag the Dog (1997). In 2021, he co-executive produced the Hulu miniseries Dopesick and directed the first two episodes.
Christian Charles Philip Bale is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Forbes magazine ranked him as one of the highest-paid actors in 2014.
What's Eating Gilbert Grape is a 1993 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Lasse Hallström, and starring Johnny Depp, Juliette Lewis, Mary Steenburgen, Leonardo DiCaprio and John C. Reilly. The film follows the story of Gilbert, a 25-year-old grocery store clerk who is caring for his morbidly obese mother, as well as his mentally disabled younger brother, Arnie. The film takes place in the fictional rural town of Endora, Iowa.
The Departed is a 2006 American epic crime thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan. It is both a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs and also loosely based on the real-life Boston Winter Hill Gang; the character Colin Sullivan is based on the corrupt FBI agent John Connolly, while the character Frank Costello is based on Irish-American gangster and crime boss Whitey Bulger. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Wahlberg, with Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, Alec Baldwin, Anthony Anderson and James Badge Dale in supporting roles.
Joel Edgerton is an Australian actor and filmmaker. He is known for his portrayal of Will McGill on the first two seasons of the Australian drama series The Secret Life of Us (2001–02), and for playing Owen Lars in the Star Wars films Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005), a role he reprised in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022). For his portrayal of Richard Loving in the 2016 historical drama Loving, he received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture.
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Appian Way Productions is an American film and television production company founded in 2001 by actor and producer Leonardo DiCaprio. Since its launch, Appian Way has released a diverse slate of films, including Academy Award–winning films The Aviator (2004) and The Revenant (2015), and Academy Award–nominated films The Ides of March (2011) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). The company has also produced television series such as The Right Stuff (2020) for Disney+.
Out of the Furnace is a 2013 American crime drama film directed by Scott Cooper, from a screenplay by Cooper and Brad Ingelsby. Starring Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck, Forest Whitaker, Willem Dafoe, Zoë Saldana, and Sam Shepard, the film follows a Pennsylvania steel mill worker searching for his missing Iraq War veteran brother, who disappeared after engaging in a bare knuckle fighting match arranged by an indebted bar owner and a ruthless New Jersey drug dealer.
Black Mass is a 2015 American biographical crime drama film about American mobster Whitey Bulger. Directed by Scott Cooper and written by Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth, it is based on Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill's 2000 book Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob. The film features an ensemble cast led by Johnny Depp as Bulger, alongside Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, Jesse Plemons, Peter Sarsgaard, Dakota Johnson, and Corey Stoll.
Hostiles is a 2017 American western drama film written and directed by Scott Cooper, based on a story by Donald E. Stewart. It stars Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike, Wes Studi, Ben Foster, Stephen Lang, Jesse Plemons, Rory Cochrane, Adam Beach, Q'orianka Kilcher, Jonathan Majors, and Timothée Chalamet appear in supporting roles. It follows a U.S. Army cavalry officer in 1892 who must escort a Cheyenne war chief and his family back to their home in Montana.
The following is a list of unproduced Ridley Scott projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, English film director Ridley Scott has worked on a number of projects that never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects fell into development hell or were officially canceled.
The Stand is an American post-apocalyptic fantasy television miniseries comprising nine episodes, based on the 1978 novel of the same name by Stephen King and a remake to the 1994 adaptation. The plot centers on a pandemic resulting from a mishap at a military biological research facility, which allows the escape of a lethal strain of influenza. After the pandemic kills almost the entire world population, the few survivors are drawn to one of two figures, Randall Flagg and Mother Abagail, setting up a final good-vs-evil confrontation. The adaptation alters details of some main characters, moves the setting to the modern-day 21st century, and features a new ending in the final episode co-written by Stephen King with his son, Owen King. The finale ads on the expanded ending of the 1990 version of the book making it the third variation of the story's conclusion. The first episode was released on Paramount+ on December 17, 2020, and on Starz on January 3, 2021. The series received mixed reviews.
Brad Ingelsby is an American screenwriter and film producer.
The Pale Blue Eye is a 2022 American mystery thriller film written and directed by Scott Cooper, adapted from the 2006 novel of the same name by Louis Bayard. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Christian Bale, Harry Melling, Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Toby Jones, Harry Lawtey, Simon McBurney, Timothy Spall, and Robert Duvall. Its plot follows veteran detective Augustus Landor in 1830 West Point, New York, as he investigates a series of murders at the United States Military Academy with the aid of Edgar Allan Poe, a young military cadet.
The following is a list of unproduced Scott Cooper projects in roughly chronological order. During his career, American film director Scott Cooper has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these productions fell in development hell or were cancelled.
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