Cooper Tomlinson is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and YouTuber. He co-created the sketch comedy YouTube channel "that's a bad idea", with Curry Barker. Tomlinson starred in and co-produced the 2024 film Milk & Serial with Barker, and co-produced and starred as Ian in Barker's 2025 film Obsession. He also starred in, co-wrote, and executive produced the upcoming film Anything but Ghosts.
Early life and career Tomlinson was born in Woodinville, Washington. He studied at the New York Film Academy campus in Los Angeles, California. There, he met Curry Barker, a fellow student at the academy. He began making videos together with Barker on YouTube, which they described as "our film school outside of film school". After they formed the sketch comedy channel "that's a bad idea", Barker and Tomlinson dropped out of the academy and moved in together.
They created and published numerous comedy sketches and short films on their YouTube channel and TikTok. In 2024, he and Barker made their feature film debut with Milk & Serial starred in and co-produced the film with Barker, a slasher film with a budget of $800 that was released for free on YouTube.
After the success of Milk & Serial, Tomlinson began co-writing and producing Obsession with Barker. He starred as Ian in the film, starring along with Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Megan Lawless, and Andy Richter. The film was a massive critical and commercial success. Largely by word-of-mouth, the film grossed $519 million on a budget of $750,000.
Tomlinson began co-writing and executive producing Barker's upcoming film Anything but Ghosts. He is set to star in the film. The film is set to be released by Focus Features on May 7, 2027.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes Ref. 2019 Aberdeen Connor Corie Also associate producer Real World Brant Phillip Short film 2020 Meanwhile Outside the Bank Scott Short film 2021 Drywall Jason Short film 2023 Enigma Adam Short film; also co-producer and writer Warnings Kendal Troy Short film; also producer 2024 That's a Bad Idea Music video Milk & Serial Steven "Seven" Also co-producer and cinematographer 2025 Fly Me to the Earth Angus Short film; also co-writer and co-producer My Dead Dad's Funeral Jason Short film Obsession Ian Also associate producer 2026 The Incident Report Brett Matthews Short film 2027 Anything but Ghosts Eddy Post-production; also co-writer and executive producer
Web series Year Title Role Notes Ref. 2018–2019; on hiatus Roommates Chad Churchill Main cast, also writer 2024; on hiatus Privately Investigated Benji Main cast, also co-creator
Television series Year Title Role Notes Ref. 2026 Dutton Ranch Deputy Cecil Post 2 episodes
References
External links
Rotten Tomatoes profile