Bradley Cooper Describes Taking on 'American Sniper' Role

okay here's the thing it takes a lot more than fine acting chops to transform yourself from the American hustler to the American sniper for Bradley Cooper it involved massive weight gain rigorous accent training and some real-life hero worship tonight he opens up to my Nightline co-anchor Byron Pitts in this heart-pumping death--it long distance highly patriotic film okay get up Hollywood hunk Bradley Cooper Travis does more than betray an American war hero Thank You chief Chris Kyle yes sir he humanizes him we met in Fallujah he saved my life of it yes sir legendary Navy SEAL Chris Kyle the most lethal sniper in US military history a hundred and fifty confirmed kills the enemy feared his peers on the battlefield revered him all these guys I know your name they feel invincible with you up there they're not they are if they think they are based on the autobiographical New York Times bestseller I got a woman at a kid to are yours out American sniper Chronicles Chris Kyle's professional success and his repercussions on his psyche and this personal life I'm stateside you're home I guess I just needed a minute the kids are dying to see you it's been nine months I'm coming home there's already buzz of a third possible Oscar nomination he was previously nominated for American hustle what is there to confirm about I understand another casino in silver linings playbook your poor social skills you scare people I tell the truth your bean American sniper bears the intimate details iconic director Clint Eastwood he's known him Clint was right there for that moment next to you I mean when I say he was close I mean when I was on that gun he was right there sort of talking and that's the way it was shooting the whole movie Clint was there all the time for all the intensity on screen Cooper and Eastwood shared humorous moments off of it like the director wondering if this star should actually lift the 400 pounds you see in this scene eight times you know me to say I do you have to really lift that weight I said yeah yeah it'll be fine okay don't pull anything Cooper gained nearly 50 pounds for American sniper in train with a dialect coach to give this Philly boy Chris Kyle's Texas twice you wouldn't say like everything there's like everything in Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday you know you wouldn't do Saturday Sunday you know I mean it's very interesting the difference it's almost like learning a foreign language you stayed in care for the whole time yeah I might even like like talking to your girlfriend yeah yeah god bless her yes yes Cooper's girlfriend is 23 year old British model and actress Suki Waterhouse though he's intensely private about it their relationship much like everything in Cooper's life has been relentlessly chronicled by the paparazzi and his career by the press he's the shirtless cover star of W magazines movie issue these days Cooper has returned to the theatre starring in The Elephant Man on Broadway performing to packed audiences and receiving rave reviews so how does one of the most celebrated actors get to work every day the subway of course that's crazy is it I mean it doesn't feel crazy I always take the subway here how is it different being photographed by paparazzi to follow you around the world to being snapped by folks with your iPhone I have a lot of maneuvers and you know you can hold onto railings and if you sense somebody you know it's constant thing that you do so people are very covert man they'll do a lot of this thing and then you just see it just hanging out there you're like you know you knows also does like reading the thing you're like oh well you don't you don't have to you could read it there you for all his success there's a down-to-earth guy next door equality to Bradley Cooper and he gives full credit to his family he dotes on his late father Charlie Cooper yeah my dad was my man I think he is said about this performance you know as he got older he was very emotional you know growing up I think that happens to man I remember thinking when I was a kid you know the idea of crying was like you never I was always so proud so and as my father got older I started to see him really started dip into the emotion of his life his close-knit family dynamic enabled him to flourish I never ever grew up with parents that pushed me to do anything other than something that was going to make me happy and I know that that's a rare thing but I was also lucky because I had such a self-generated engine in myself that I never needed them to push me Cooper graduated with honors from Georgetown studied acting at New York's the new school appearing on its program Inside the Actors Studio with guest Sean Penn hey mr. Penn my name is Bradley Cooper I'm a second year actor my questions regarding hurly-burly what was it like to revisit a character Eddie after a 10-year hiatus yeah it was it was the first time that success seemed far from Sir want to go for on my horse from a one-time role on Sex in the City you know what I got to go home no way I'm not letting you out my shirt didn't have enough ice cream on to his recurring one on aliens bit parts and movies but it all changed six years ago there were nights the four of us level four with the Hangul how does one go from the hangover movies to these very serious in part dark characters in some way well um I don't see any difference at all huh I don't I mean Phil Phil Winnick to me was a real character that wasn't me Tracy its Phil and Todd Phillips is an auteur director and Zach Galifianakis Ed Helms are as good as Christian Bale and Jeremy Renner I mean those guys are serious gangster actors I mean they are no joke and you got to bring it hard every time you're with them so I actually see it as it's the same thing do you want to die is that what it is Oh to help you why you do it I want to understand if I do it for you you know that I do to protect you you don't yes I do I'm here your family is here your children have no father you'll have to serve my country you don't know when to quit there is very little humor in American sniper it delves deeply soberly into the high cost of war the aftermath of battle when the adrenaline rush has passed for all this preparation Cooper only spoke to Chris Kyle once by phone Chris thought maybe a little too pretty to play him he did say that yeah yeah he wanted to tie me up drat put me in the back of his pickup truck and ride around but I found that as a compliment that he complemented pretty thanks yeah thirty-eight pretty okay but before the movie went into production life took a tragic Hollywood turn that shocking killing of legendary Navy SEAL Chris Kyle the most lethal sniper in US history was gunned down at a Texas shooting range over the weekend the man arrested a troubled former Marine whom Kyle was trying to help after his death Cooper met with Kyle's family including his father Wayne I just tried to get to know him and I wanted him to get to know me and I've said that we're gonna do right by your son and do everything we can and I meant it and I think he saw that yeah that was on this can you confirm whether he wins any major awards or not for American sniper Bradley Cooper has already achieved two major successes honor and American Hero and his father's dream for his son to live a full life if he was still alive he'd be 74 now oh he would be a mess I think every time he would see me probably cry because he would be so happy for a Nightline I'm Byron Pitts in New York nice American sniper will be in theaters nationwide January 16

Channel: ABC News

Views: 2,328,891

Rating: 4.7880478 out of 5

Keywords: American Sniper trailer, American Sniper released date, American Sniper premiere, Client Eastwood, Bradley Cooper, us sniper, lethal sniper, top sniper, Chris Kyle, gain 50 pounds, Texas accent, actor, celebrity, hollywood, movie, abc, abcnews

Id: Oa7zy65iifQ

Length: 7min 50sec (470 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 05 2015