Cuba Gooding Jr.'s Children: Meet His 3 Kids, Spencer, Mason And Piper

Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr., the actor who shouted “Show me the money!” in Jerry Maguire, is a father of three. He had all three children with Sara Kapfer, his high school sweetheart and wife of more than 20 years. Their sons Spencer and Mason were born in the 1990s, and their only daughter, Piper, arrived in 2005. One son is now a Hollywood actor, one works behind the scenes as a writer and editor, and the youngest has grown up away from the cameras.

Children of Cuba Gooding Jr.

3 children
Born 1994–2005
With Sara Kapfer

Spencer GoodingChild with Sara Kapfer · Born 1994Writer, editor, Twitch streamer
31–32years
Mason GoodingChild with Sara Kapfer · Born November 14, 1996Actor (Booksmart, Love, Victor, Scream)
30years
Piper GoodingChild with Sara Kapfer · Born October 22, 2005Dancer, keeps a private life
21years

All three children are from Cuba Gooding Jr.’s marriage to Sara Kapfer, whom he married in 1994.

Who Is the Mother of Cuba Gooding Jr.’s Children?

All three children share the same mother, Sara Kapfer. She and Cuba met in high school and married on March 13, 1994, the same year their first son was born. Before the marriage, Kapfer worked as a schoolteacher.

The couple split after two decades together. Kapfer filed for legal separation in April 2014, citing irreconcilable differences, according to ET. Cuba then filed for divorce in January 2017, TMZ reported, asking for joint custody of Piper, who was still a child at the time.

Spencer Gooding (Born 1994)

Spencer is the eldest of the three. He was born in September 1994, a few months after his parents’ wedding. He first appeared on television at the age of eight, in a 2002 episode of the sports show SlamBall.

Spencer studied American literature at Wesleyan University in Connecticut and graduated in 2018. The road there was not smooth. “During my attendance at Wesleyan I needed to take a year off from school during what was a difficult time in my life,” he wrote on Instagram in 2019. He went back and finished his degree.

His father was in the crowd at graduation. Cuba told People Now in 2018 that he cried “like a little girl” while watching his son collect his diploma.

Spencer chose work behind the camera rather than in front of it. He started out as a production assistant at Comedy Central and 21st Century Fox, then worked as a content editor at the digital comics platform WEBTOON. He also streams video games on Twitch. In April 2026 he shared a photo from the set of Turn the Key, a film he wrote, according to People.

He is close to his mother. On Mother’s Day in 2018 he called her his “brilliant strong gorgeous mamma” in an Instagram Story.

Mason Gooding (Born 1996)

Mason is the middle child and the one who followed his father into acting. He was born on November 14, 1996, in Los Angeles. That was the same year Cuba filmed Jerry Maguire, a role that won him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1997.

Mason likes to joke about that timing. “Even though technically he won the Oscar in ’97, I like to think I had some hand in that,” he told BET in 2019, while promoting Booksmart.

He studied dramatic writing and psychology at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts but left in his junior year to act full time. His first big break was a recurring role as Parker Jones on HBO’s Ballers in 2018, opposite Dwayne Johnson. Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart followed in 2019, and from 2020 to 2022 he played Andrew Spencer in Hulu’s Love, Victor.

Horror fans know him best as Chad Meeks-Martin. He played the role in Scream (2022), Scream VI (2023) and Scream 7 (2026). His other credits include Netflix’s Let It Snow, I Want You Back, Fall, Y2K and the 2025 romantic slasher Heart Eyes. You can read more about his roles and earnings in our Mason Gooding net worth profile.

Mason on Growing Up With a Famous Dad

Mason has spoken openly about what it was like to have a father who was away on film sets for months at a time. On the Wildmen podcast with Dylan Sprouse and Brendan Columbus, released in July 2026, he said his father would try to “speed parent” when he got home.

He described a dad who came home for a week and fired off questions like “Why are you failing in school? Why are you fighting?” He added that as a boy he struggled to match the man on TV with the man at home: “You’re so positive and charismatic in these interviews and then you come home and it’s a different guy.”

He now sees it differently. Mason said an actor’s worst fear is leaving home for months and finding that life moved on without them. He also said he feels he owes it to his father to do even better, because “the amount of resources I have at my disposal” came from what Cuba went through to get where he is.

Mason has also had to speak about his father’s legal troubles. In a January 2022 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he said he was glad that anyone could feel comfortable speaking about their experiences, but added, “I also love my father,” and said what he had heard did not match the man he knew. Cuba pleaded guilty in April 2022 to one count of forcibly touching a woman at a New York bar.

Mason Gooding: Nepo Babies, Childhood Fads, and Rotisserie Chicken

Piper Gooding (Born 2005)

Piper is the youngest child and Cuba’s only daughter. She was born on October 22, 2005. The couple announced the pregnancy to People in July 2005, saying they were “thrilled to be adding another addition to our family.”

She is the most private of the three. Her Instagram centers on dance, art and her dog, Scout, and she marked her 17th birthday with a photo of herself shooting on a film camera, according to HollywoodLife. Dance has stayed her main passion, and People reports she now studies it at university.

Her father has always been proud of her talents. “She’s so cute,” he told MoviesOnline in 2007, when she was a toddler. By 2018 he was telling People, “She sings, dances, does it all.”

Cuba Gooding Jr.’s Family Life and Parenting

Cuba comes from a family of performers. His father, Cuba Gooding Sr., was the lead singer of the soul group The Main Ingredient, and his younger brother, Omar Gooding, is an actor and rapper. That gives Spencer, Mason and Piper a grandfather and an uncle in show business as well.

Cuba did not push his children into acting. In 2007 he told The Press Association he would be unhappy to see them enter the business young, and that he wanted them to grow up and enjoy life first. In 2018 he told People he worried his younger children might want to perform only because of who their dad is, but that he would back them once they showed real passion.

He has also talked about keeping his kids grounded. “It’s just a focus that you have to have, and not just being around them but making them accountable for their actions,” he said on The No Judgment Zone in 2014. He said he and Kapfer “raised real good kids” who were handling the spotlight well. For more on his career and money, see our Cuba Gooding Jr. net worth article.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many children does Cuba Gooding Jr. have?

Cuba Gooding Jr. has three children: Spencer (born 1994), Mason (born 1996) and Piper (born 2005).

Who is the mother of Cuba Gooding Jr.’s kids?

All three children are from his marriage to Sara Kapfer, his high school sweetheart. They married in 1994, separated in 2014, and Cuba filed for divorce in 2017.

Is Mason Gooding Cuba Gooding Jr.’s son?

Yes. Mason Gooding, known for Booksmart, Love, Victor and the Scream films, is Cuba’s second son.

Does Cuba Gooding Jr. have a daughter?

Yes. Piper Gooding, born on October 22, 2005, is his only daughter and youngest child.

What does Spencer Gooding do?

Spencer works behind the camera as a writer and editor. He has worked at Comedy Central, 21st Century Fox and WEBTOON, and he streams video games on Twitch.