Cooper Hoffman & Gregg Araki On ‘I Want Your Sex,’ Olivia Wilde, Shooting Its Wild Sex Scenes & Roger Ebert’s ‘Doom Generation’ Hate [Interview]

Gregg, what were your first thoughts when Cooper’s name came up?
GA: [Doing a grouchy, elderly voice] Who is this kid?!

CH: Yeah, that’s good. That’s exactly what he said. [Imitating the voice] From “Licorice Pizza?” No!

GA: When his name first was brought up, I was just like, “Cooper Hoffman? The kid from ‘Licorice Pizza?’ That’s really fucked up.” Because the thought of Olivia’s character fucking this nervous teenage kid was creepy and almost “Mysterious Skin”-like to me.

But then Cooper did a self-tape; he was very good, and I’m like, “Okay, the kid can act. He’s really great.” But it was really the chemistry read, when Cooper flew himself out here from New York in person.

GA: Cooper has a lot of gravitas and a lot of presence. Even though you’d literally just turned 21 when I met you. You could barely drink, so you were still a baby. But for such a young person, you had a lot of presence, and Olivia, of course, has a ton. She’s a movie star. So, I really wanted someone who could go head-to-head with Olivia.

CH: It was the most intimidating chemistry read I’ve had in my life.

GA: But you didn’t show it! You didn’t seem very nervous.

CH: No, I locked it in. No fear.

GA: As I saw the chemistry read and their dynamic together, I was like, “That’s it. It’s done.”

CH: To have a chemistry read with Gregg Araki is an experience I only hope everyone has at some point. Because he films it himself, so, he’ll be on his knees! [Gets on his knees, frames hands in front of Gregg’s face] With you, like, this close on a chemistry read! And you’re already nervous as shit, and he’s, like, framing it up over your shoulder. It’s hilarious. But you’re, like, in it. It felt like Gregg, Olivia, and I were the only people in that room.

GA: We were, like, making the movie, you know?

CH: Yeah, it was really great, and I totally saw his head spinning, and I felt really good about it.

What was it like playing such a bizarre, abusive relationship with Olivia and then snapping out of that and embodying some dignity when Gregg called cut?
GA: Dignity?! What do you mean, dignity?!

CH: “Dignity” is so funny. I’m like, “I will not stand for this!”

GA: Like, “No! I’m a top!”

[Both laugh]

CH: I think when you show up to set with two people like Gregg and Olivia, you have to meet them where they’re at. I had no choice but to commit fully, and they were more than happy to welcome me into that sphere. I would’ve looked really dumb if I tried to play it cool. Elliot’s not a cool guy.

GA: He’s cool! What do you mean not cool? He’s working it out.

CH: He is cool in his own way. But he’s so yearning, he’s so desperate, which are things that I think are very endearing and nice to see in a character. But they’re not cool.

The scene where Olivia breaks down, that’s not cool. That was so raw. I remember doing that scene and being in awe of what she was doing.

GA: I remember she did it in one take, too. It was crazy.

CH: Yeah, it was like one take, and Gregg came in crying and hugged her, and I was like, “Goddammit, I really gotta step it up here.”

[Both laugh]

Did you study any films or performances to prepare for Elliot?
CH: Mainly, a lot of my prep was music, honestly. I made a playlist, which was the first time I’d ever done that.

GA: Was it a lot of Lana Del Rey? [Laughs]

CH: It was, like, Olivia Rodrigo, a few things in there. Faye Webster was another one. There were a few rap songs, but I’m forgetting which ones they were. A lot of it was indie music that I was really tapping into.

This heartbroken, kind of soft boy was what I wanted to encapsulate, and I felt like music was the way into that.

How were you first introduced to Gregg’s films?
CH: The first film I saw was “Mysterious Skin.” The second film I saw, three days later, was “Totally F***ed Up” at the Metrograph. So, I watched both of those, and then I got the role.

“Mysterious Skin” is the one, I think. I feel annoyed that that might be my favorite because it’s not the niche one.

GA: It’s the mainstream one.

CH: It’s the mainstream one! But I loved it so much.

GA: My story with “Mysterious Skin” is about Roger Ebert. It’s like the only movie of mine that he liked. He hated “The Doom Generation” so much, he put it in a book. Truly, he hated it more than anything.

But then, when he reviewed “Mysterious Skin,” he didn’t mention any of my other movies. It was like I had never made a movie. Like, “Here’s a new filmmaker.”

CH: Like, “Gregg is entering the industry.” [Laughs] But I remember watching both of those films and having that nice feeling of, “I want to be a part of this person’s world. I want to be in this person’s orbit.”

I really wanted this role and felt I could fight for it. I was really happy that Gregg gave me a chance to be a part of his world.

“The Doom Generation” turned 30 last year and has gone through a whirlwind of new appraisal since its release. How do you feel about its legacy now?
GA: I mean, it’s crazy for me just in general. All of my movies are that way. “I Want Your Sex” is the same, even though it’s my biggest movie ever and on 700 screens and all that. They’re all just very near and dear to my heart. They’re all these art projects that I feel like I make with my friends, you know?

So, down the road, like 25-30 years later, for someone to be like, “Oh, that movie means so much to me,” that means so much to me. That’s what really matters. It’s very touching that something I made, that something I love, that is a labor of love, that we all really believe in, could mean something to somebody else. I’m amazed that the movies have lived in culture for as long as they have. I’m honored by it.

CH: Touching hearts, Gregg.

GA: And this will be us when we’re doing the 25-30 year restoration of “I Want Your Sex.”

[Both laugh]

CH: [Elderly voice] Back when we made this movie.

GA: I’ll be like 100 by then.

CH: Dude. You’ll look 70 at 100.

It’s hard to imagine working with Gregg and coming out the other side unchanged in some way.
CH: Yeah, that’s so real.

And the film puts Elliot in an incredibly vulnerable place sexually. So, not prying for details here, but did making a film like that with Gregg at all influence your sex life?
[Both gasp and laugh]

CH: That’s such a leading question!

GA: “Are you better in bed—”

CH: Yeah, “Are you having better sex because of ‘I Want Your Sex?’” And, by the way, that’s a real question.

GA: That would be a good selling point for the movie. Up your game!

CH: Yeah, like, if you watch it, you’ll have better sex. It’s gonna up your game if you watch this movie.

GA: Good luck, kids!

[Both laugh]

CH: I actually think it’s a great date movie.

GA: Oh, I do, too.

GA: Because it will really bring up a lot of issues.

CH: Totally. You’ll talk about it. And then you’ll end up having sex because of it probably. Hopefully.

GA: Or never.

CH: Or maybe never again. Maybe you’ll break up.

GA: Maybe they’ll punch you in the face.

CH: That could also happen.

But the honest, truthful answer is, like, I think what it did do for me is kind of, well, getting to a place with a partner or anyone—in terms of sex or just a relationship in any capacity—to get to the place where you feel fully, like, the highest pleasure you can get. It’s innately a very vulnerable place to be.

And I always think, like, “I wanna reach the highest pleasure. I wanna have the most love. I wanna have all these things.” But then watching Elliot go through it, I’m like, “Oh god, what it takes actually to get there is heartbreaking!”

So, you have to find the right person to do it with. But then, when you do, go there with that person. Test out all the things. Try everything out. Like, live kind of unabashedly for a little bit until you find out what your highest form of pleasure and love is. Dude, I insist.

[Gregg and Cooper fist bump]

CH: Let’s go with that answer. I killed it!

GA: You said you were gonna kill the interview, and you did.

CH: I did, dude. I called my shot.

“I Want Your Sex” opens in theaters July 31 via Magnolia Pictures. This interview has been edited.