BRADLEY COOPER

Date of Birth
5 January 1975, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Nickname
Coop

Height
6' 1" (1.85 m)

Mini Biography
Bradley Cooper was born in Philadephia, Pennsylvania, the son of Gloria (Campano) and Charlie Cooper, who was a stockbroker. He has a sister, Holly. Immediately after Bradley graduated from the Honors English program at Georgetown University in 1997, he moved to New York City to enroll in the Masters of Fine Arts program at the Actors Studio Drama School at New School University. There, he developed his stage work, culminating with his thesis performance as "John Merrick" in Bernard Pomerance's "The Elephant Man", performed in New York's Circle in the Square. While still in school, Bradley began his professional career, appearing opposite Sarah Jessica Parker in "Sex and the City" (1998) and in the series, "The Beat" (2000). His weekends were spent with LEAP (Learning through the Expanded Arts Program), a non-profit organization that teaches acting and movement to inner city school children. The summers took him all across the globe, from kayaking in British Columbia with Orca Whales to ice-climbing in the Peruvian Andes, while hosting Lonely Planet's "Treks in a Wild World" (2000) for the Discovery Channel. Bradley had to skip his graduation ceremony from the Actor's Studio in order to star in his first feature film, Wet Hot American Summer (2001). After finishing his second feature, Bending All the Rules (2002), his plans to relocate to Los Angeles were delayed when Darren Star hired him to star in the series "The $treet" (2000). Bradley went on to win the role of young law student "Gordon Pinella" in the film Changing Lanes (2002), starring Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson, and also stars as "Travis Paterson" in My Little Eye (2002). He finally decided that it was time to forgo his other New York projects and move to Los Angeles when he was cast in "Alias" (2001).


Spouse
Jennifer Esposito (21 December 2006 - 10 November 2007) (divorced)

Trade Mark
Piercing Blue Eyes

Often plays devious yet charming characters


Trivia
Was a medalist on the Men's Heavyweight Crew team at Georgetown University.

Had to miss his graduation commencement to film Wet Hot American Summer (2001).

Considers Daniel Day-Lewis the world's greatest actor.

He attended Germantown Academy in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania and graduated in 1993.

His father, Charlie Cooper, is of Irish heritage and his mother, Gloria Cooper (formerly Campano) is of Italian heritage.

Cooper has spent many weekends with the Learning through the Expanded Arts Program (LEAP), which is a non-profit organization that teaches inner-city school children about acting.

Has an older sister.

Speaks French fluently. He even did an interview, promoting The Hangover Part II (2011) entirely in French.

Friend of Dave Bugliari.

Was in a relationship with Renée Zellweger (July 2009-March 2011).

Parents are Charles and Gloria Cooper.

In the Steven Spielberg episode of "Inside the Actors Studio" (1994), Cooper appears in the audience about 15 minutes into the episode.

Member of the same Los Angeles gym as Ryan Gosling, Jason Sarayba, Jodie Foster, Michelle Monaghan, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Ashley Tisdale.

Became close friends with Victor Garber during production on "Alias" (2001).

While a guest on "Live with Kelly and Michael" (1988) (aka "Live with Regis & Kelly"), Cooper was asked which of the actresses he has costarred with was his favorite on-screen kisser. Instead of an actress, he chose Michael Ian Black, with whom he shared a love scene in Wet Hot American Summer (2001).

He is the first alumni of The Actor's Studio to be interviewed as a guest on "Inside the Actors Studio" (1994).

His favorite films include New York Stories (1989)(segment 'Life Lessons'), The Conversation (1974), The Celebration (1998) and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007).

Loves to cook.

Drives a 2007 black Prius, and a 2004 G55 AMG Mercedes truck. He also owns a Vespa, which was a gift from Hangover director, Todd Phillips. [2011]

Put himself on tape to audition for a role as Robert De Niro's son in Everybody's Fine (2009) (with his own mother playing the part of De Niro). He lost out to Sam Rockwell.

For six months prior to filming The A-Team (2010) and during the shoot, he cut out sugar, salt, and flour and underwent grueling two-hour workouts with a trainer every day.

Admitted that in the beginning of his career casting agents tended to peg him as just a 'pretty boy', which made finding meaningful roles challenging.

Claimed that watching David Lynch's production of The Elephant Man (1980) on television is what inspired him to be an actor. He later played the title character of John Merrick on stage for his graduate thesis at the Actors Studio, which he attended after graduating from Georgetown in 1997. He also went to London just to research the part, rather obsessively.

His father was a stockbroker with Merrill Lynch.

Is a teetotaler.

Was named "The Sexiest Man Alive" by People Magazine (November 2011).

Can be seen in the audience on an episode of "Inside the Actors Studio" with guest Robert De Niro. Bradley Cooper would later audition for the role of Robert De Niro's son in "Everybody's Fine", which went to Sam Rockwell, and starred with De Niro in Limitless. Cooper and De Niro will be co-starring together again in "The Silver Linings Playbook".

Was cast as Lucifer in an adaption of Paradise Lost (directed by Alex Proyas). The movie was canceled 4 months before filming due to budget conflicts.

Quit drinking at age 29.


Personal Quotes
"There was a lot of Sack Lodges at my high school." - "Sack Lodge" is his character from Wedding Crashers (2005).

"I was in New York shooting "Law & Order" (1990) and the script came along, and I completely connected to it. From the first page, when he says, 'Ever since I was eight years old, I knew what I wanted to be.' When I was eight years old, I wanted to be a chef or an actor. I used to cook all the time. I worked in restaurants the first half of my life." - to The Boston Herald on getting the script for "Kitchen Confidential" (2005) (11/05)

I had size 12 feet when I was 10, so I thought I was going to be 6' 8". My goal was to be able to dunk a basket. I wound up being 6' 1" with size 14 feet. I got the raw end of the deal.

(2010, on his younger years) I never lived the life of 'Oh, you're so good-looking'. People thought I was a girl when I was little, because I looked like a girl-maybe because my mother would keep my hair really long in a bowl cut. I was in a coffee shop once and the waitress was like, 'What do you want, Miss?' I was 10 or 11-the worst age to have that happen. I had a jean jacket on and a Metallica pin. I thought I was really cool.

(2010, on the incredible shape he got into for The A-Team (2010) ) As the movie progressed, I got in increasingly better shape. There's this one fight scene with' Liam Neeson' toward the end, where it's, like, the apex of the work. We finished and Joe Carnahan's like, 'Brother, come here, look at this,' and he played it back, and I swear to God, it looked like my head was digitally superimposed onto someone else's body. I was like, 'This cannot be me-that's the way I look?' It was so fucking surreal, 'cause as a kid I only fantasized about looking that way. Remember Soloflex commercials? That was huge when I was a kid. It was like, 'I wanna be the Soloflex guy. Mom, can we get the Soloflex?'

(2010, on having to put himself on tape to send to casting directors when auditioning for roles as an aspiring actor) I'd love not to have to do that (anymore). I did it for this movie about UFC fighters a few years ago, and I didn't know anything about UFC fighters. I wore biking shorts. I was outside in my back yard in Venice, and I was, like, kicking the trash cans and shit. I didn't know what I was doing. I would love to fucking see that tape.

(2011) Todd Phillips gave Vespas to the cast of The Hangover Part II (2011) when we finished shooting. And I thought, a Vespa? What the heck kind of gift is that? I mean, it's nice, but I'll never drive it. But I tell you, I cannot stop riding that Vespa. I dream about it when I'm away. It's gotten to the point where I think I'm screwed: I'm starting to look at motorcycles.

[2009, on his 'nice guy' role in "Alias" (2001) and how it nearly typecast him] I remember that after I left Alias, people wouldn't even see me. I'd put myself on tape at home for all these roles because they were like, "Oh, no, no. Bradley. He's such a good guy. He can't play that." Then it was David Dobkin, I went in for him on Wedding Crashers (2005) and he had no idea what 'Alias' was or anything. So he hired me right away and that was the major break. Then after that everyone was like, "Well, isn't he kind of an asshole? I mean, really. I think he's kind of an asshole." Elia Kazan always said that if you're going to play a cowboy you better show up with a horse because no one sees anything but what you bring. It's funny but sometimes people stop me and they're amazed that I'm not a complete asshole. They expect me to be an asshole right away. I gained a lot of weight to do 'Wedding Crashers' too and they're like, "Oh man, I thought you were bigger" because I was 215 lbs for that movie and I'm usually 185 lbs. But to be opposite Vince Vaughn and believe that I could destroy him in a football game...

(2009, on his pets) I have two beautiful dogs that I cherish. Samson is a 14-year-old German short hair pointer and Charlotte is a 6 or 7 year-old Chow Retriever mix. They are both rescue dogs and they are the best ... I'm sort of a hybrid of both my dogs. Samson is stoic and makes me earn it and Charlotte loves me undyingly. They're my kids.

(2009) I seriously love to cook ... My grandmother was an amazing cook. As a kid I used to help her make handmade pasta, cavatelli and ravioli. It was one of my favorite things to do. I love the idea of making whatever is in the fridge into something.

(2011, on being considered a very successful actor after The Hangover (2009) become a huge hit) It doesn't feel that way. Thank you for saying that. Not the case, I gotta say, but it certainly provided more opportunities. Everybody who was a part of that movie, because it was so financially lucrative, benefited from it but I still put myself on tape for movies and try to get roles. It's the same, you know? It's the same. I mean, look, more doors have been opened for sure but it's not like I sit back with a cigar on Monday morning and go through the scripts that have been offered - no, that's not the case.

(2011, on how he spends his spare time) Eating. I eat a lot of food. I am a big eater.

[on the characters in Silver Linings Playbook (2012)] The fact that these guys are trying to adopt a positive attitude was really important to me. As Jack Nicholson always says, 'Try to incline yourself upwards as much as possible' because it is too easy in this world to incline yourself downwards. These people have every reason to incline themselves downwards, but they're trying to rebuild the economy of their lives. And that's why (they) aren't so fringy to me: they become the most sane people in the room.

Filming a movie with David O. Russell is an athletic endeavor. You are utterly drained at the end of the day because you have to be present at every turn, as if you're on a sports field. That high-octane rhythm demands that you stay in the moment and get out of your head. It's the only way you can be successful as an athlete. That's very scary for an actor.

(2012, on quitting drinking at age 29) I was at a party, and deliberately bashed my head on the concrete floor. Like, 'Hey, look how tough I am!' I did it again. I spent the night at St. Vincent's Hospital with a sock of ice, waiting for them to stitch me up...I don't drink or do drugs anymore. Being sober helps a great deal... I remember looking at my life, my apartment, my dogs [when I was still using], and I thought, 'What's happening?' I was so concerned what [people] thought of me, how I was coming across, how I would survive the day. I always felt like an outsider. I just lived in my head. I realized I wasn't going to live up to my potential, and that scared the hell out of me. I thought, 'Wow, I'm actually gonna ruin my life. I'm really gonna ruin it'.


Salary
The Hangover (2009) $600,000
The Hangover Part II (2011) $5,000,000