Actor of the Month: Bradley Cooper BY ANNA MATLIN Opinions Editor
Bradley Charles Cooper was born on January 5th, 1975 to Italian-American mother Gloria and Irish-American father Charles. Raised in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania with his older sister, Holly, Cooper was originally interested in cooking before he decided to attend Georgetown University. Fortunately for moviegoers, however, Cooper changed his mind after seeing David Lynch’s production of The Elephant Man. After obtaining a degree in English, Cooper turned his attention to acting by enrolling in a master’s degree program at Actors Studio Drama School in New York City, where he played The Elephant Man’s title character of John Merrick on stage for his graduate thesis.
Cooper began his career while in New York City, landing a television commercial for a fast-food chain and receiving a guest spot on the popular HBO show Sex and the City in 1999. His first film was the satirical comedy Wet Hot American Summer in 2001, in which he played camp counselor Ben Cooper. Although the film was a commercial flop, it has since acquired a cult following.
He became known as a comedy actor with major roles in popular films such as Wedding Crashers (2005), where he played the villainous character Sack Lodge, and the comedy Yes Man (2008), which starred Jim Carrey. But Cooper is best known for his role as Phil Wenneck in The Hangover (2009) alongside Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, and Justin Bartha. The Hangover was so successful that it won nine critical awards and merited a sequel entitled The Hangover Part II (2011).
Although he has, to an extent, branded himself as a comedy actor, Bradley Cooper has demonstrated an impressive flexibility in the performing arts. In March 2006, Cooper starred in Three Days of Rain on Broadway with Julia Roberts and Paul Rudd at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater. Cooper stars as Rory Jansen in the drama/romance The Words (2012) alongside household names such as Zoe Saldana, Dennis Quaid, and Olivia Wilde released September 7th.
As for personal life, Cooper had a brief four-month marriage to actress and model Jennifer Esposito in 2006. It was reported in late 2010 that he was seeing actress Renée Zellweger, but the relationship ended in March 2011. He has spent many weekends with the Learning through the Expanded Arts Program (LEAP), a non-profit organization that teaches inner-city school children about acting. Cooper speaks French fluently after learning the language at Georgetown and a six-month stay in France as an exchange student.
In addition to The Words, be sure to look into Cooper’s other 2012 movie releases. He had secondary roles in the August comedy Hit and Run (2012) and The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), a crime film starring Ryan Gosling released September 7th. Most importantly, however, watch for Cooper’s upcoming film Silver Linings Playbook (2012), a comedy drama film set to be released in November. Cooper will star alongside Jennifer Lawrence with big names such as Robert De Niro, Julia Stiles, and Chris Tucker in supporting roles.