Chris Cooper makes a man thinking worth watching. We value his patience and close attention to other actors, though familiar casting as stern authority figures can leave too much of that ability unused.
Fi1m perspective
In Lone Star (1996), Chris Cooper lets us see Sam Deeds thinking while somebody else is speaking. His face registers the effort without making a performance of each small change. We were moved by his scenes with Elizabeth Peña's Pilar Cruz, because his careful listening gives her emotional directness its full weight. Cooper is particularly good when a film allows him to pay that much attention to another actor. The dialogue need not be his for him to have something to do.
John Sayles gave Cooper his film debut in Matewan (1987), beginning a collaboration that has extended to five films. Lone Star brought him wider notice in a leading role, and remains our clearest reason for wanting him at the centre of a film. He holds our attention while leaving space for Peña and the larger cast. Sayles's writing occasionally makes the town's connections too neat, but Cooper never seems to be merely helping the plot along. We can see Sam trying to understand what he hears, which makes the patient unravelling worth following.
The more familiar casting is sterner: Colonel Frank Fitts, the repressed Marine officer in American Beauty (1999), or Alexander Conklin in The Bourne Identity (2002). Cooper's calm, tough demeanour makes him an understandable choice for men accustomed to authority. The reservation is with how readily that can become the whole job. His face can tell us that somebody is in charge; the more rewarding work comes when he is allowed to show what that person is thinking.
Adaptation (2002), in which he plays the eccentric John Laroche, offers a useful change from those assignments. The comic part is a reminder to cast him for more than his capacity to look stern. We would welcome more such departures, though there is still plenty to discover in the quieter work when a director gives him time. Start with Lone Star, and pay attention when somebody else has the dialogue.
Biography
Chris Cooper is an American actor. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1951, he studied at the University of Missouri and began his career in theatre before making his film debut as a union organiser in John Sayles’s Matewan (1987).
He has collaborated frequently with Sayles, appearing in City of Hope (1991), Lone Star (1996) as Sam Deeds and Silver City (2004). Cooper received wider recognition for supporting roles in American Beauty (1999) and won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Adaptation (2002). His other notable film credits include The Bourne Identity (2002), The Town (2010) and Little Women (2019).
