Bradley Cooper
Here’s something to howl about – the Wolf Pack is back. The very swoon-worthy Bradley Cooper is on screen again – yay! Bradley and his pals Zach Galifiankis, Justin Bartha and Ed Helms star in one of the most anticipated sequels of the year,
The Hangover Part II. This time, they’re off to Bangkok.
Speaking exclusively with
NW, Bradley talks hangover cures, reveals he was once a hotel doorman and tells us what he really thought about a sneaky photo taken of his bum.
First of all, where have you been all our lives?I don’t know! I always wanted to be an actor since I was a kid. I just never did anything about it. I just sort of thought I would got to college and study, nothing to do with acting, and [then] pursue it. And that’s what I did.
What were your high-school years like?I think I was like most kids. Most kids go through a bunch of different stages, and that’s the experience I had. You’re trying to figure out who you want to be, and who you are pretending to be, and who you are, but I was never really in one group. I definitely went around. I never really had a home, a clique. I travelled between groups. I was a freelance – I just tried to date women in every group.
That’s smart.Exactly. But I still have friends from high school that I talk to.
Were you athletic?Yeah, I loved sports. I was never [great], but I loved them. I always wished that I played football, in retrospect. That’s one big regret I have, because I love football. I think I was just nervous.
What other groups were you in? Theatre group?No. I never did theatre. I was too scared back then. I was too nervous to get up on stage and talk in front of other people.
What was a really terrible job you did when you first started out?The first job I ever had was as an extra in a Dell computers commercial. We were shooting on a Saturday, so it was double overtime, plus a penalty, so I made a lot of money. I think I made like $1500.
But if you didn’t take up acting until your 20s, did you have another job that sucked that you did to make ends meet?I used to be a doorman at a hotel in New York called the Morgans Hotel. I worked the graveyard shift. And I remember that I would be in there – it was a really popular hotel back then, in ’98 I think I worked there – and the Morgans Bar was right below us. Cindy Crawford and her husband [Rande Gerber] used to own that. All these famous people would go in there, through the lobby of the hotel to go down, and I remember I always used to sit there and think, “One day I’m going to get out of here.”
Who was the most famous person that passed you?I took Leonardo DiCaprio to his room once.
Really? That’s weird.I know.
Did he tip you?I can’t remember. I am sure he did. I had forgotten about that. I remember riding in the elevator with them. Him and seven of his buddies. And I was totally starstruck. Speechless!
We saw a picture from 2009 where you were bending down showing your bum.Do you know what was funny about that? I was loading one of my dogs into a crate as I was flying to the [US] east coast, and the paparazzi were all outside. I remember leaning over and I thought, “I bet you my ass crack is showing, and I bet they’re taking a photograph.” Then the next thing I knew my mother emailed me saying, “There’s an unfortunate picture of you on the internet.” I thought, “Oh God.” But I looked at it, and it didn’t look that bad.
How do you feel about the paparazzi?Well, I get up early and the benefit of getting up so early is the paparazzi don’t get up that early, so if I want to do anything scandalous, I do it at 5am. That’s part of what comes with the job, and if that’s a downside, if that’s the worst thing, then life’s not that bad. That’s how I look at it. If that’s the pay-off for being able to do a movie with Robert De Niro, I don’t care.
Any hangover cures?Roasted beets, which is, actually a pre-emptive hangover move. You eat that before you go out drinking and you should be OK. I have no idea why they work.
So, tell us about The Hangover Part II. I shouldn’t even say this but I think this might be better than the first one.
What’s the story?We got a drug-dealing monkey, Mike Tyson’s back, Stu’s getting married in Thailand, and Mr Chow is back. This is a much bigger movie than the first one. Bangkok is like Vegas on steroids. You put those guys in that setting, the stakes are raised.
Are you feeling the pressure? The Hangover was such a success. Do you think, “How can we top the first one?”It’s not about topping it, because then you’re f**ked. It’s about having a great, compelling story that has a lot of potential for comedy. Because that’s what it was for the first one – there’s a clock, we have to do something by a certain time, and there’s danger. If we can do that, I think we’re set.
You had a few smarmy roles, like in Wedding Crashers, but now it’s the opposuite. You’re a leading man!Depending on what you’re doing, that’s what people see you as. After
Wedding Crashers I would go on auditions, people would say, “Oh, Bradley Cooper, isn’t he an asshole?”
The Hangover Part II is in cinemas May 26.