Bradley Charles Cooper (born January 5, 1975) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been nominated for various awards, including eight Academy Awards and a Tony Award, and has won two Grammy Awards and a BAFTA Award. Cooper appeared on the Forbes Celebrity 100 three times and on Time’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2015. His films have grossed $11 billion worldwide and he has placed four times in annual rankings of the world’s highest-paid actors.
Cooper enrolled in the MFA program at the Actors Studio in 2000 after beginning his career in 1999 with a guest role in the television series Sex and the City. He made his film debut in the comedy Wet Hot American Summer (2001). He first gained recognition as Will Tippin in the spy-action television show Alias (2001–2006), and achieved minor success with a supporting part in the comedy film Wedding Crashers (2005). His breakthrough role came in 2009 with The Hangover, a critically and commercially successful comedy, which spawned two sequels in 2011 and 2013. Cooper’s portrayal of a struggling writer in the thriller Limitless (2011) and a rookie police officer in the crime drama The Place Beyond the Pines (2012) drew praise from critics.
Cooper found greater success with the romantic comedy Silver Linings Playbook (2012), the black comedy American Hustle (2013), and the war biopic American Sniper (2014), which he also produced. For his work in these films, he was nominated for four Academy Awards, becoming the tenth actor to receive an Oscar nomination in three consecutive years. In 2014, he portrayed Joseph Merrick in a Broadway revival of The Elephant Man, garnering a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play, and began voicing Rocket Raccoon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In 2018, Cooper produced, wrote, directed and starred in a remake of the musical romance A Star Is Born. He earned three Oscar nominations for the film, as well as a BAFTA Award and two Grammys for his contributions to its U.S. Billboard 200 number one soundtrack and its chart-topping lead single “Shallow”. He gained another Academy Award nomination for producing Joker (2019).
Cooper supports several charities that help fight cancer. He was briefly married to actress Jennifer Esposito, and has a daughter from his relationship with model Irina Shayk.
“I used to work the graveyard shift.”—Bradley Cooper
“I think if you live in a black-and-white world, you’re gonna suffer a lot.”—Bradley Cooper
“In a relationship you want to treat people the way you want to be treated.”—Bradley Cooper
“I don’t know if it’s animalistic or what, but men become like peacocks with their feathers up when women are around.”—Bradley Cooper
“I think I’m a decent-looking guy.”—Bradley Cooper
“I loved the college experience of studying.”—Bradley Cooper
“If you’re a single man and you happen to be in this business, you’re deemed a player. But I don’t see myself as a ladies’ man.”—Bradley Cooper
“There’s got to be something you want to tell and that’s the engine which spurs all of the work you have to do in order to create the story, but you have to love some sort of nugget of what you’re telling.”—Bradley Cooper
“Life’s complicated and people do things for a lot of reasons.”—Bradley Cooper
“I definitely am a huge lover of comedy, and it’s only through doing so many comedies that I’ve realised how much of an influence they’ve been on me.”—Bradley Cooper
“I believe in you, even if you don’t believe in me.”—Bradley Cooper
“Give me an authentic woman, and I’m happy.”—Bradley Cooper
“You can tell if someone’s into you. You can feel the chemistry.”—Bradley Cooper
“When I’m into a woman, I literally can’t stop staring. I’m like a little kid. I become completely entranced.”—Bradley Cooper
“For a comedy to work, magic has to happen.”—Bradley Cooper
“Our submission defines our authority.”—Bradley Cooper
“If you look at anything, there are always comedic moments.”—Bradley Cooper
“Life’s complicated and people do things for a lot of reasons.”—Bradley Cooper
“I want to work with great filmmakers and great actors and get better as an actor.”—Bradley Cooper
“Unfortunately, when someone asks me for a favor, I can’t say no. Because of my upbringing – my Catholic guilt – if I don’t do it, it plagues me.”—Bradley Cooper
“What gets celebrated gets replicated.”—Bradley Cooper
“I grew up in a very old-fashioned Roman Catholic, Italian-Irish family in Philly.”—Bradley Cooper
“If I like a song, I’ll just keep playing it, and it never gets old.”—Bradley Cooper
“In any of its many forms, I have found that nothing beats fun.”—Bradley Cooper
“I believe the ordinary meets the extraordinary every single day.”—Bradley Cooper
“I think the thought of a traditional family home is awesome.”—Bradley Cooper
“If it’s not perfect, you throw it away regardless of time.”—Bradley Cooper
“The problem with being good is you become indispensable.”—Bradley Cooper
“I’m here because, in the end, the truth is worth the risk.”—Bradley Cooper
“Life’s complicated and people do things for a lot of reasons.”—Bradley Cooper
“To be one step ahead of the enemy, not to be running away from him.”—Bradley Cooper
