Oliver Cooper has starred in movies like Project X and Runner Runner, but his latest role might be his most intriguing. He’s starring in Showtime’s Californication as David Duchovny and Heather Graham‘s son.
When told by The Wrap that they were surprised he was cast in the role of Duchovny’s son, he replied, “I probably wouldn’t have guessed myself either.”
Cooper got the role the old-fashioned way, he auditioned.
“It was a traditional audition. I went in there to meet with the casting director and there was a bunch of [kinda] fat kids that looked just like me. They didn’t tell us we were auditioning to play Hank’s son, they just said it was going to be a kid interviewing Hank for his newspaper and it’d be a possible eight-episode arc. That’s all they said,” he explained.
This was the 22-year-old actor’s first TV role and he found the pace on the set to be rather enjoyable.
He said, “This was my first time and I almost enjoyed it more. It’s hard to get substantial parts as a young actor and the cool thing about TV is you get to constantly build the character and find him over the course of 12 episodes. That’s the fun part of doing TV. It definitely moves quicker and you don’t spend as much time on scenes, but I kind of liked that.”
Cooper has also worked on his own project, Four Dogs, which follows his personal story of moving out to Los Angeles, living with his aunt and taking care of her dogs.
He shared, “I’m always working on my own stuff for me to act in. It’s hard to get good acting work, so you’ve gotta create it for yourself.”
Cooper has continued to pursue his own work so he doesn’t get typecast.
“Project X was the first audition I went on and I got it, but then everyone sees you as that guy and thinks you can only do that. I have other stuff I want to do and try. People don’t even wanna give you a shot at it,” he said.
Californication is currently airing its final season Sundays on Showtime.
