Cooper Hoffman admits graphic sex scenes in Olivia Wilde age-gap dominatrix film 'ruined his family's life'
Cooper Hoffman may have been known for a while as the son of legendary actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, but the young actor is quickly creating a pretty iconic filmography of his own.
The 23-year-old debuted in Licorice Pizza, an Oscar-nominated Paul Thomas Anderson film from 2021, and has since received praise for his parts in The Long Walk and Saturday Night, and his role in yet-to-be-released controversial Sam Altman biopic Artifical.
His newest role though sees him star opposite Olivia Wilde in an incredibly R-Rated sex comedy where she plays his boss and dominatrix in some fairly graphic scenes. Wilde and Hoffman star alongside a pretty all-star cast, including Charli XCX, Johnny Knoxville, and Mason Gooding.
Called I Want Your Sex, Hoffman has spoken about how his sisters believe the pretty graphic scenes ‘ruined their life’.
Hoffman plays Elliot, a naïve young guy who becomes the assistant and sub of Wilde’s Erika
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I Want Your Sex is directed by Gregg Araki, many of whose films are about sex. Unsurprisingly, this movie is no different, with Hoffman playing a young man who becomes an assistant to an older woman, Wilde’s Erika.
She teases him in his job interview and, within a week, the pair begin a BDSM-heavy sexual affair in which she is the dom and he is the sub.
The trailer alone features her forcing him to wear lingerie, walking him on all fours in a maid's outfit, and bending him over her knee to spank him. This, surprisingly, barely scratches the surface of the movie’s raunchiness.
Warning: The trailer contains sexual content and strong language
Randy Myers, reviewing the film for the San Jose Mercury at the Sundance film festival called it the ‘raunchiest and funniest comedy’ at the festival.
He continued: “What goes on here is so outrageous it’d make the head of HR run screaming from the building.
“I Want Your Sex surprises at every turn and is impossible to resist. Eyebrows will get raised.”
Hoffman said his sisters were less than pleased with the role, but his mum was supportive
Speaking to No Intervals at the red carpet for the film, Hoffman spoke about how the movie was tough news for his sisters to take.
He said: “My sisters didn't like it. My sisters did not like it. My mom is someone who grew up in theatre and experimental theatre and all those things. So, she was like, ‘This is going to be great. You're going to have such a great time. You should go do it.’
“My sisters were like, ‘you're ruining my life’ and like, ‘all my friends are going to see this, I can't believe you're doing this to me.' I was like, ‘That's hilarious and so real. So true’.”
I think many of us would probably be less than keen on seeing our siblings walked like a dog on a leash on a cinema screen, but according to Hoffman the movie isn’t actually that sexy.
He said: “I think Gregg [Araki] would maybe disagree. I don't think it's very sexy. I think it's very funny. I think it shows sex in kind of like a nice kind of awkward light and it shows these two people exploring this very vulnerable but very fulfilled place together, which is really nice.”
He added in a separate interview with People he would be laughing at Wilde 'shoving panties into my mouth'.
He went on: "I was so deep into the process of doing uncomfortable things already that I was just kind of like, ‘Yeah, let’s rock.’
"Like, ‘Oh, no, you’re going to be fine. I know, yeah, the outfit’s a little weird ... The dildo, I know. The lube. It’s a whole thing, but it’s going to be good. ... Just another day on the job.'"
Olivia Wilde is starring in her second relationship comedy of the year, having starred in The Invite which she also directed. She said on the red carpet: “I don't think there's anything more interesting than human relationships.
“I think relationship dynamics and the nuances of relationships and subtext and the stories we tell in order to not tell the truth to ourselves or partners or that is the most interesting stuff to me.
“I think that it's interesting to tell different stories about that and this movie is really a love letter to the kind of post adolescence experimentation that is so necessary and the idea of getting your heart broken and falling on your face and just being bold and being alive, truly being alive.”
I Want Your Sex is available to watch in US cinemas 31 July, and in UK Cinemas 28 August.
Topics: TV and Film, Film, Celebrity, Sex and Relationships
Michael Slavin