EDGE Interview: Cooper Koch is a Talented Out Actor Edging Stardom

Koch garnered critical acclaim for his role as Ben. Talking to him over the phone, I didn't detect any distinctive verbal cadence or lilt that his teacher may have been pointing out. There may have been a slight Southern California accent (there is one), but it wasn't distinctive.

Koch also does print work for major labels who seem to appreciate his perfect facial symmetry. At the beginning of that career, he took a few thirst-trappy photos, but since then has become more practical, posing in fashions that fit his toned body type. "I make a lot of money modeling so that I have more time to audition to potentially go and do a role or whatever."

Koch is 26 years old. He is committed to acting even through the setbacks. The free time he had after his last two films was used to reflect on himself in between auditions. He says he was struggling with self-doubt because he wasn't getting cast in anything. The pressure had a stranglehold on his confidence. He remembers thinking, "is it because I'm gay, or because I'm not this or I'm not that?"

"I just was really struggling and then I started to kind of just get involved in other places of my life. I got back into Groundlings. I'm a yoga teacher. I got a job scooping ice cream at Salt and Straw. I joined a gay volleyball league. My life just started to become, like I said, really full and I just feel really happy and healthy and just good in my life," he says, adding that this new attitude really helps him with constant rejections, "But it's like now I sort of have this foundation to sit on, which is just a very full and busy life outside of acting, which I kind of never had, or at least I haven't had in a long time."

For whatever reason, Hollywood is yet to discover Koch. He is willing to do whatever comes his way. And he is adamant that he isn't being pigeonholed because he has come close, really close, to doing straight roles.

"It's definitely been a journey to get there," he says. "I remember when I was in college before I had come out and I was still studying in school, I really didn't wanna come out. I was really afraid to be an actor and be gay just because I didn't think anyone would take me seriously or I wouldn't get cast, or I would be shunned or it just wouldn't work. And I sort of learned through being in acting school that, you know, if I can't be myself, then I'm not gonna be able to play anyone else regardless of what they identify in terms of their sexuality or their gender or whatever."

You can watch Koch in "They/Them" on Peacock or his body horror movie "Swallowed" on your favorite digital media platform.

Watch this YouTube interview of Koch talking about "Swallowed."

Check out pics from Koch's Instagram: