Hooks won a role in the last film directed by Gordon Parks, Jr. (Super Fly), Aaron Loves Angela (1975). Set in contemporary Harlem at New York's grittiest and most depressing ebb, that film was regarded as a "blaxploitation" version of Romeo and Juliet, using African American and Puerto Rican ethnicity in lieu of medieval families. While playing a withdrawn teenager, he created electricity opposite the 15-year-old Irene Cara. Jose Feliciano in a bit part and a little comic relief lighten the grimness, as the young lovers encounter nothing but intolerance and the secret location where they meet becomes the site of a dangerous drug deal. The movie was popular locally and praised by fans, but widely considered a weakly plotted failure.