Scott Cooper
Birthdate: Apr 20, 1970
Birthplace: Abingdon, Virginia, USA
Scott Cooper is a fascinating example of a struggling actor who transformed himself into a distinctive and acclaimed director/writer/producer of charged American sagas, stylistically influenced by American 1970s cinema and distinguished by exceptionally talented casts. Cooper’s first filmmaking credit was as writer/producer/actor of his only horror movie project, For Sale by Owner (2009), starring Tom Skerritt, Skeet Ulrich, and Kris Kristofferson under Robert J. Wilson’s direction and released by Port Pictures.
Cooper’s breakthrough as an acclaimed filmmaker arrived next, as director/writer/producer of the drama about an alcoholic country singer, Crazy Heart (2009), adapted from Thomas Cobb’s 1987 novel starring Jeff Bridges (who won the Best Actor Oscar), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Oscar-nominated for Best Supporting Actress), Robert Duvall (who also produced) and Colin Farrell, and released by Fox Searchlight Pictures to a terrific $47.4 million return.
Cooper was director/writer of the intense crime drama set in the Pennsylvania rustbelt, Out of the Furnace (2013), starring Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck, Forest Whitaker, Willem Dafoe, Zoe Saldana and Sam Shepard, produced by (among others) Leonardo DiCaprio, Ryan Kavanaugh and Ridley Scott and distributed by Relativity Media to a poor $15.7 million gross.
Scott Cooper continued in the American crime drama vein as director/producer of the saga about mobster Whitey Bulger, Black Mass (2015), adapted by Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth from Dick Lahr’s and Gerard O’Neill’s non-fiction 2000 book starring Johnny Depp (as Bulger), Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rory Cochrane, Jesse Plemons and Kevin Bacon, premiering out of competition at the Venice Film Festival and grossing nearly $100 million globally for Warner Bros. Pictures.
Cooper was director/writer/producer of his first Western, Hostiles (2017), reuniting with co-star Christian Bale, and with co-leads Rosamund Pike and Wes Studi, with Plemons, Adam Beach, Cochrane and Ben Foster, with dialogue in both English and Cheyenne, and grossing a disappointing $35.7 million for Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures after launching at the Telluride Film Festival.
Cooper was director/co-writer (with credited co-writers C. Henry Chaisson and Nick Antosca) of the supernatural horror movie, Antlers (2021), based on Antosca’s short story, “The Quiet Boy,” produced by Guillermo del Toro, David S. Goyer and J. Miles Dale, starring Keri Russell, Jesse Plemons, Jeremy T. Thomas, Graham Greene, Scott Haze, Rory Cochrane and Amy Madigan, and grossing $19 million for distributor Searchlight Pictures.
Cooper was director/writer/producer of the fascinating Gothic murder mystery film involving a young Edgar Allen Poe at West Point Academy, The Pale Blue Eye (2022), again starring Christian Bale (who was also a producer) and Henry Melling (as Poe), with Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton and Robert Duvall, and released in a limited theatrical run before streaming by Netflix.
Scott Cooper turned to American music as director/writer/producer of the biopic, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (2025), adapted from Warren Zanes’ 2023 non-fiction book about Springsteen’s creation of the Nebraska album starring Jeremy Allen White (as Springsteen), Jeremy Strong, Paul Walter Hauser, Stephen Graham and Odessa Young, produced and distributed by 20th Century Studios, and which premiered at the Telluride Film Festival.
Cooper as actor had supporting or lead roles in such movies as Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), Takedown (2000), Rain (2000), Gods and Generals (2003), Water Under the Bridge (2003), Attitude (2003) and Get Low (2009), starring Robert Duvall, Bill Murray and Sissy Spacek.
Scott Cooper Photos and Videos
Personal life
Scott Cooper was born and raised in Abingdon, Virginia by his parents. Cooper has a brother, Todd. Cooper attended and graduated from Abingdon High School in 1988. Cooper graduated with a B.A. from Hampden-Sydney College (in Hampden-Sydney, Virginia) in 1992. Cooper then studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York City. Cooper is married to Jocelyne Cooper; the couple lives in Los Angeles and has three children, including daughters Stella and Ava and son Aria.
Known For
Scott Cooper Movies
director
Previous (5)
- 2025 |
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Bruce Springsteen's journey crafting his 1982 album Nebraska, which emerged as he recorded Born in the USA with the E Street Band. Based on Warren Zanes' book.
- 2021 |
- 2017 |
- 2015 |
Black Mass
The true story of Whitey Bulger, the brother of a state senator and the most infamous violent criminal in the history of South Boston, who became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf.
- 2013 |
Out of the Furnace
When Rodney Baze mysteriously disappears and law enforcement doesn't follow through fast enough, his older brother Russell takes matters into his own hands to find justice.
actor
Previous (6)
Facts About Scott Cooper
Oscar Bait: Scott Cooper has a notable track record of directing Oscar-nominated performances, including those for Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal, with Bridges winning Best Actor for Crazy Heart.
Influences: Cooper has cited that his literary influences as a writer include William Faulkner and Thomas Wolfe, while his favorite films and filmmakers are Terrence Malick’s Badlands (1973), Robert Altman’s Nashville (1975), John Huston’s Fat City (1972), and Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show (1971).
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