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- 19 things you probably didn't know about Bradley Cooper
19 things you probably didn't know about Bradley Cooper
Savanna Swain-Wilson
- Bradley Cooper has become a household name thanks to his successful film career.
- He's been nominated for eight Oscars, including best actor for "A Star Is Born" in 2019.
- Cooper didn't always want to be an actor — when he was a kid, he dreamed about being a ninja.
- The star was named People's Sexiest Man Alive in 2011.
Bradley Cooper has been navigating Hollywood for the last 20 years.
He's perhaps best known for his roles in "The Hangover" series, "Silver Linings Playbook, and "A Star Is Born," but he's also found success in other corners of the industry.
Read on to learn some fun facts you probably didn't know about Bradley Cooper.
When he was a kid, he dreamed about being a ninja.
Per The Philadelphia Inquirer, Cooper told Details magazine in 2013 that acting wasn't always his end goal.
When he was a kid he went through phases where he was really passionate about becoming a ninja or a soldier.
"So I begged my father to send me to Valley Forge Military Academy ..." he told the publication. "Before that, I thought only ninjas understood the meaning of life and death. And so I begged my father to send me to Japan until I was 21, so I could train to become a ninja."
He was married in the mid-2000s.
Back in 2006, Cooper married "Blue Bloods" actress Jennifer Esposito.
The pair got divorced in 2007 after less than six months of marriage.
Cooper has a daughter with ex-girlfriend Irina Shayk.
According to Us Weekly, Cooper and his ex-girlfriend, Irina Shayk, started dating in 2015 and broke up in 2019.
Although they aren't together anymore, Cooper and Shayk reportedly still co-parent their daughter, Lea De Seine Shayk Cooper, who was born in 2017.
He's got a lot of hometown pride.
It's no secret that Cooper is a proud Philly native. And much like his character in "Silver Linings Playbook," he's also a die-hard Eagles fan.
When the NFL team won their first Super Bowl championship in 2018, the actor didn't hold back his excitement while watching the game.
He's said that Robert De Niro is his idol.
Cooper has repeatedly referred to legendary actor Robert De Niro as a source of inspiration for his career.
The pair worked together on the 2011 film "Limitless" and the 2012 award-winning drama, "Silver Linings Playbook."
In 2018, Cooper told The Hollywood Reporter that De Niro taught and prepared him the most for his directorial debut, "A Star Is Born."
He went to Georgetown University, but he didn't study acting until grad school.
During his appearance on James Lipton's "Inside the Actors Studio," Cooper said he always had an interest in pursuing acting, but he wasn't sure if he could make a legitimate living off of it.
Georgetown University, where he attended college, didn't offer a theatrical acting major, so he chose to get his degree in English instead.
However, he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2013 that he applied for an MFA graduate program at The New School in New York and thought if he could get in, it would ease his nerves about chasing the dream.
If he didn't get in, his plan was to intern at a theater somewhere in Philadelphia.
Cooper speaks fluent French.
The actor learned to speak French at Georgetown and further honed those skills while studying abroad in France.
Cooper is still fairly fluent in the language years later, and he's even given press interviews in French without using a translator.
The actor is also rather skilled in the kitchen.
Cooper has played a chef at least twice — first on the short-lived Fox series "Kitchen Confidential" and later in the 2015 dramedy "Burnt."
To prepare for the film, he reportedly trained for several weeks with Michelin-star chef Marcus Wareing. In a 2015 interview with Bon Appetit, Wareing said that Cooper seemed to already know his way around the kitchen before their lessons.
According to Digital Spy, Cooper told Extra in 2010 that growing up with an Italian family influenced his love for cooking.
"My grandmother was an amazing cook. As a kid I used to help her make handmade pasta, cavatelli, and ravioli," he said. "It was one of my favourite things to do. I love the idea of making whatever is in the fridge into something."
His fans have their own nickname.
According to Buzzfeed, the actor's most loyal supporters refer to themselves as "Mini Coopers," a name that's credited to "Shallow" song producer Mark Ronson.
In 2011, he was named People's Sexiest Man Alive.
In 2011, People magazine crowned Cooper with its coveted Sexiest Man Alive title.
Prior to receiving the title, the actor jokingly said that it could be a "career-defining" moment for him.
"I think it's really cool that a guy who doesn't look like a model can have this," he told People after winning.
He frequently brings his mother as his date to events and award shows.
Cooper has said that he's grateful to have such a close relationship with his family, especially his mother, Gloria Campano.
He's even been known to bring her as his date to premiere events and award shows.
He made his directorial debut with "A Star Is Born."
According to a 2018 interview with W magazine, some of Cooper's colleagues encouraged him to start small when he expressed interest in directing.
Cooper didn't listen and instead dove right into "A Star Is Born."
"People I care about, who care about me, told me not to direct 'A Star Is Born,' said that it would be too difficult and I should start with something easier," he said. "Luckily, I didn't listen. I loved that it was really, really hard to make this film. Otherwise, it wouldn't have the same value."
He almost played a famous superhero.
Despite his current success, Cooper told Us Weekly in 2011 that back when he was a series regular on ABC's "Alias," he couldn't get into certain clubs because no one recognized him.
Like many other actors, he also faced a lot of rejection when he was getting started.
He told "The Howard Stern Show" in 2011 that he auditioned to play the lead role in the 2011 "Green Lantern" film, but the part ultimately went to Ryan Reynolds.
He's no stranger to transforming his body for roles.
It's pretty common for actors to really commit to a role by making some drastic physical changes.
When he played Navy SEAL Chris Kyle in 2014's "American Sniper," Cooper reportedly packed on an additional 40 pounds of muscle by eating 5,000 calories a day and working with a trainer.
To make matters more intense, after filming "American Sniper," Cooper immediately transitioned to the lead role for the Broadway revival of "The Elephant Man."
The drastic transformation required a strict diet, which Cooper maintained by eating things like pumpkin soup during rehearsals, according to Vanity Fair.
Cooper has said he quit drinking because he didn't want it to affect his career.
According to a 2015 Vanity Fair profile, the actor has been sober since 2004.
In 2013, he told GQ that he quit drinking and doing drugs when he was 29 because he believed continuing to do so could have negatively affected his career.
His very first professional acting job was a guest spot on "Sex and the City."
In a 2012 interview with Backstage, Cooper said that his first television credit, "Jake the downtown smoker" on "Sex and the City," will always remain a memorable career moment for him — in part because he had to learn how to drive a stick shift.
"I thought it went well when I learned on a Volkswagen, but then I was driving a 1962 Porsche convertible where the clutch was as if I was driving a bus," he said. "And I had Sarah Jessica Parker in the passenger seat. They very quickly took me out and put in a stand-in until we arrived. But it was awesome."
Fans won't find Cooper on social media anytime soon.
Much to the dismay of many "Mini Coopers," the actor doesn't have an active social media presence on any platforms.
He also doesn't really like to talk about his personal life while doing press for work.
During a 2018 interview with The New York Times, he said he doesn't find talking with the press about his personal life or struggles to be productive.
"I don't necessarily see the upside of it. You know? I don't," he said.
He and director Alfonso Cuarón broke BAFTA records in 2019.
In 2019, Cooper was nominated across five different BAFTA disciplines for "A Star Is Born."
He and fellow director Alfonso Cuarón — who was nominated for "Roma" — were the first to ever receive that many nominations across different disciplines.
The A-list actor hasn't gotten his Oscar yet.
Cooper's accolade list is enviable by any standard.
He's been nominated for eight Oscars and four Golden Globes, but he's never taken home either award.
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