Tricia Cooke

Tricia Cooke (born June 25, 1965) is an American editor, screenwriter and producer. She is best known for being an editor on multiple films by the Coen brothers and for her and Ethan Coen's films Drive-Away Dolls (2024) and Honey Don't! (2025).

Tricia Cooke
Born	(1965-06-25) June 25, 1965 (age 60) La Mirada, California, U.S.
Occupations	Film editor, screenwriter, producer
Years active	1990–present
Spouse	Ethan Coen ​ (m. 1993)​
Children	2

Early life

Cooke stated in a 2025 interview that she is from "Southern California, a suburb of Los Angeles."^[1] She graduated in 1989 from New York University with a degree in film.^[2]

Career

After graduating, Cooke worked for a few movies in New York before someone recommended her to the production manager of Miller's Crossing (1990) by the brothers Joel and Ethan Coen. She originally worked with the film's cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld, before becoming an apprentice editor. She continued working with the Coen brothers, including being the assistant editor for their films Barton Fink (1991) and The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) and the editor for The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) and The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001).^[2]

She also co-directed the comedic documentary short film Where the Girls Are (2003) with Jennifer Arnold and co-wrote and co-directed Don’t Mess With Texas (2008) with Carrie Schrader.^[2]

Cooke and Ethan Coen started writing the script for the 2024 film Drive-Away Dolls, which is Cooke's debut as a film screenwriter, in 2002.^[3] She is also the film's editor and unofficial co-director. Cooke and Coen stated that the only reason only Coen is credited as a director for the film is that Cooke is not a member of the Directors Guild of America.^[2] Drive-Away Dolls is the first film in a planned "lesbian B-movie trilogy" and was followed by Honey Don't!, released in 2025.^[4]

Personal life

Cooke is married to filmmaker Ethan Coen since 1993.^[2] They met on the set of Miller's Crossing in the winter of 1989.^[2] The couple share two children, daughter Dusty and son Buster.^[5] The family resided in the Murray Hill neighborhood in New York City.^[5]

Cooke is queer and a lesbian. She was already a lesbian before she met Coen and describes their marriage as "non-traditional", with both having separate partners outside their marriage.^[2]

Filmography

Cooke has worked as an editor or associate editor on many of the Coen brothers' films.^[6] Her filmography includes the following:

• Miller's Crossing (1990)
• Barton Fink (1991)
• The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
• Fargo (1996)
• Where the Air Is Cool and Dark (1997)
• Betty (1997)
• The Big Lebowski (1998)
• The 4th Floor (1999)
• Weeping Shriner (1999)
• O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
• The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
• Where the Girls Are (documentary) (2003) – also co-director
• The Adventures of Seinfeld & Superman (2004)
• The Notorious Bettie Page (2005)
• The Ex (2006)
• Eve (short film) (2008)
• Don’t Mess With Texas (2008) – also co-director and co-writer
• Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind (documentary) (2022)
• Drive-Away Dolls (2024) – also co-writer and producer and uncredited co-director^[2]
• Honey Don't! (2025)^[7] – also co-writer and producer