Bradley Cooper is one of the most accomplished actors working in Hollywood right now. While he gained fame for his comedies such as The Hangover series, he graduated to dramatic roles with films like American Sniper and Silver Linings Playbook. He even turned director with the musical romance A Star Is Born and last year’s Maestro.
Cooper opened up about his struggles as an up-and-coming actor in the business. He mentioned that he had once auditioned for Michael Mann’s Public Enemies. The actor emotionally recounted how despite not getting the role, he cherished the letter that Mann sent him after his rejection which he has preserved to this day.
Bradley Cooper Was Rejected By Michael Mann For Public Enemies
Filmmaker Michael Mann is known for his brand of crime films that really explore the criminal underbelly of a city. He has handled films such as Miami Vice, Heat, The Last of The Mohicans, and Collateral, all of which have gained him enormous acclaim. The filmmaker last directed the Adam Driver starring biopic Ferrari.
In last year’s THR Director’s Roundtable, many of the filmmakers at the table gave their tribute to Mann and expressed their gratitude to the maverick filmmaker. Bradley Cooper, who helmed last year’s musical drama, Maestro, took a segue from a conversation about rejection and recounted an incident when he had auditioned for Mann’s Public Enemies.
Cooper emotionally recounted that when he was a struggling actor, he had auditioned for the Johnny Depp starrer and had gotten rejected. However, he received a letter from Mann,
I’m trying not to get emotional here. I’ve been an actor for so many years, still an actor. And one thing I learned from [Michael Mann] was, I put myself on tape for ‘Public Enemies’ years ago, and I didn’t get it. And he wrote me a letter. I got a letter from Michael Mann saying, ‘Thank you for auditioning, and I see something in you.’ I kept that on my bookshelf for so many years.
Bradley Cooper mentioned that he has since inculcated that gesture in his own process and handed out letters to actors he has worked with or auditioned. He has since been nominated for the Oscars twelve times, with five of them being for Best Actor/Supporting Actor. He was also nominated for Best Director for A Star Is Born and Maestro.
Michael Mann Opened Up About Heat And Final-Cut Privileges
One of Michael Mann’s most celebrated works is the crime thriller Heat. The film saw Al Pacino and Robert De Niro share the screen for the first time and was positively received by audiences and critics alike. The filmmaker had reportedly filmed the story a a TV pilot but after the network rejected it, released it as a TV movie named L.A. Takedown.
Mann mentioned that he only had complete control over a film on The Last of the Mohicans, after which he was constantly answerable to the studio. Though he still had final-cut privileges for his latest film Ferrari, he was still in communication with the studio. He said,
Heat was different. I wrote the screenplay, got Bob [De Niro], got Al [Pacino]. There was no development. The studio hated the fact they liked it a lot and had no control over it… I think final cut is an attitude. It’s a state of mind. I was only making films I felt passionately about. The more you can have your financial partners understand, ‘This is the film. If you don’t want to make this film, don’t make the movie.’
Other directors at the roundtable seemed to have varying opinions on final-cut privileges and their experiences with the studios. Bradley Cooper mentioned that even though he did not have final-cut privilege, he had leverage as he was also the lead actor in the film.
