Bradley Cooper Confirms What We Suspected All Along About His On Set Behavior

Actor Bradley Cooper, known for his parts in "A Star is Born" and "Silver Linings Playbook," has cemented himself as a Hollywood figure — earning several awards and nominations along the way. Cooper even took home a Grammy in 2019, according to the Recording Academy's website.

However, Cooper's public perception hasn't been entirely positive. During the press circuit for "A Star is Born," specifically, a 2018 interview with The New York Times, he came across as difficult and non-compliant when it came to the harder questions. "I won't have any control, and it really isn't a collaboration," he said of the profile. "You have all the say. It's not like you're going to show it to me and say, 'Let's work on this section.' You know what I mean?"

That, however, was nearly four years ago. Now, in anticipation for Cooper's newest role in "Nightmare Alley," it appears he might finally be opening up a bit more, finally confirming what many suspected he was like on a movie set.

During a new appearance on KCRW's podcast, "The Business," Bradley Cooper spoke in-depth about his latest role in "Nightmare Alley." The Guillermo del Toro circus drama found Cooper doing full nudity for the role, which he noted as his main struggle on set. 

"It demanded that we be naked — emotionally and soulfully and even physically for me, which actually was a big deal," Cooper said. "I can still remember that day just to be naked in front of the crew for six hours, and it was Toni Collette's first day. It was just like, 'Whoa.'" He added, "It was pretty heavy."

Despite the physical toll, Cooper appeared to learn a lot from the part, telling Deadline in November 2021 that the film actually helped him find himself. "The role terrified me, for many reasons," he said. "But as we started to delve into it ... the idea of inhabiting somebody who doesn't know who they are, and who's in search of who they are through the whole film, right up until the last scene. I thought, Maybe that's where I am in my life as an actor and a human being." He also spoke of the emotional toll it took on him. "It was very risky to go to these places of, 'Are we this person? Is this a side of ourselves? Is this who we really are?'" he said. "I found that to be quite vulnerable as an actor. All my characters tend to linger, but this one, I have to say, was an especially hard one."