Bradley Cooper has been doing wonders in the entertainment industry, both as an actor as well as a filmmaker. Best known for the same film that served as his breakout role in Hollywood–The Hangover–the 48-year-old heartthrob has been winning hearts ever since with his outstanding performances in masterpieces like Limitless and A Star is Born.
However, the world would have never gotten the chance to get familiar with Cooper’s terrific acting chops due to one massive miscommunication between the actor and The Hangover‘s director Todd Phillips that almost caused Bradley Cooper to lose out on his breakout role.
The Hangover Almost Slipped From Bradley Cooper’s Hands!
When The Hangover was still in the writing-casting process, Bradley Cooper wasn’t such a big name back then and had the least expectations of bagging his breakout role of Phil in the 2009 blockbuster.
This negative thought of his was further encouraged when he met with the film’s director Todd Phillips, as it led to him thinking Phillips was ‘too cool’ to choose a small name like him. As shared by him in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter:
“I auditioned for Starsky & Hutch with Vince Vaughn years earlier, and I remember thinking Todd [Phillips] was the coolest guy in the world,” said Cooper. “Then I sat down [for a meeting at Chateau Marmont], and he was very nice and cool as hell with the sunglasses. So I actually thought there’s no way in hell I’d get this role because he’s sort of the alpha, really cool guy.”
Regardless, they met up and exchanged contacts–only to never get in touch until four months later.
“But we both love movies. There Will Be Blood was coming out soon, so we exchanged e-mails and went to see There Will Be Blood together at Paramount. And then that was it — I didn’t hear from him. I remember checking in, and they said, ‘Yeah, budgetary problems; they’re going to need a name.’”
Hearing that, Bradley Cooper was obviously even more hopeless than before as he thought this role had slipped from his hands. However, little did he know that it was a miscommunication on Todd Phillips‘ part that led to the delay in his being finalized for the role of Phil.
How Bradley Cooper Ended Up Bagging His Breakout Role
Continuing in the interview, filmmaker Todd Phillips then went on to share that because he was focusing on casting lesser-known actors, Warner Bros. and co-financier Legendary Pictures just weren’t fine with the film’s mid-$40 million budget and tried to trim it, leading to the ‘budgetary problems’.
“I presented a number for the budget, and they did not want to make that version of the movie with this group of guys. I said, ‘Tell me the number that I can just go and make a movie, and we’ll see you at the premiere.’”
After settling everything (Phillips gave up his entire less-than-$6 million directing fee in exchange for a reported 16% stake in The Hangover leading to the film getting a budget of approximately $35 million), he finally contacted Bradley Cooper for the film–after four months. As shared by Cooper:
“I’m doing a play in Williamstown [Mass.], trying to figure out what the f– I’m going to do with my life. And I’m sitting there in the apartment in between matinees, and I get a text [from Phillips]: ‘Are we going to f–ing do this?’ I was like: ‘I haven’t heard from you in f–ing four months! Are you serious?’ You were like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to make The Hangover.’”
Nonetheless, the cast was selected, the film was made, and the rest was history considering how Bradley Cooper got his breakout role in the film that was made within $35 million and yet brought in some surprising big bucks equal to approximately $467.5 million worldwide in 2009.
