The show that prompted Jane Fonda to call Alex Cooper “one of the best interviewers I’ve ever had” is returning for season four, and that’s not even the biggest news for its 29-year-old star. Moving Call Her Daddy away from Barstool Sports, where it began, resulted in a Spotify deal worth around $60 million; she’s also turned her attention to launching Gen Z talent into the stratosphere via her own media company, Trending. Now, Cooper is here to talk, and to listen.
RAISED IN suburban Pennsylvania, Cooper was the middle child of a TV-producer father and a psychologist mother who helped her (and her friends) get through adolescence: “My house was where you came to process emotions that maybe weren’t as accepted.”
AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY, she wore her signature “Daddy” sweatshirt to make guys “feel uncomfortable. They’d be frustrated, and I could tell it was because I shouldn’t have this on my chest. They’re like, ‘We’re Daddy.’ And I’m like, ‘No, I’m Daddy.’ ”
SHE PLAYED Division 1 soccer in college too. “While other people are getting to go to frat parties, you’re thinking, How am I going to get more playing time?” She brings her drive to her new career off the field. “Aside from the classic grit, tenacity, and determination, I am so competitive now with myself. I had to advocate for myself with authoritative figures since I was 12. Now I’m able to mold myself depending on who I’m speaking to.”
AS THE DUST settles from her moves away from Barstool and her original cohost, Sofia Franklyn, Cooper is “proud that I fought for something that I had built. I can sleep well at night because I know I worked my ass off.”
Jacket by Prada; ring by Pomellato.Photograph by KANYA IWANA. Styled by Rebecca Ramsey.
GETTING THAT COMPLIMENT from Fonda was “the coolest moment of my career. I cried to my parents afterward.” Another guest highlight? Miley Cyrus. “I’m never starstruck, but I was a massive Hannah Montana fan as a kid, so I’d like to redo that one now we are in different places in life.”
HER MOST SURPRISING GUESTS were Post Malone (“He’s the sweetest soul. ‘Yes, ma’am’ and ‘Sorry, ma’am’.”) and Gwyneth Paltrow. “I think that her reputation is interesting, because her vibe is so lovely.”
SHE SEES HERSELF more as a producer than a host. “I’m almost just a vessel to ask the questions. When I’m sitting in that chair, I’m already thinking of how I’m going to edit the episode. I grew up in a live-television truck watching my dad, so I’m happy that being on camera has worked for me, but that was never the goal.”
HER INTERVIEW STYLE “is not perfect, but it’s working. I’ll keep sitting in this seat until something needs to change.” She admits, “Nobody taught me how to do this and I’m never satisfied. I need to keep changing. So I think a lot of my excitement for season four is taking even more risks: There will be certain vlog episodes that I do that’s an experiential episode, which I can say, no one is doing what I’m doing in the space in terms of format.”
FOR THE MOST PART, Cooper’s been an open book—until she met her fiancé, film and TV producer Matt Kaplan. Initially, she’d only call him Mr. Sexy Zoom Man on air. “I actually have to work on this in therapy to be like, you cannot exploit this relationship.”
Britt Hennemuth
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