Bradley Cooper is unhesitant and unequivocally bold while listing out his thoughts. Especially when it comes to the projects he takes on, he doesn’t waver to let everyone know his thoughts on the story he has chosen to work on. This is why he was almost willing to quit the very movie that had Ryan Gosling head over heels in love with the actress who later became his wife, Eva Mendes.
Yes, the film in talks here is none other than the indie masterpiece by Derek Cianfrance from 2013, The Place Beyond the Pines — also the film that started the Gosling-Mendes love story. And the reason why Cooper was so hell-bent on quitting the project after getting on board was the rewrites and the new draft presented to him, which was, quite simply, not what he had in mind for the movie.
The Place Beyond the Pines‘ Rewrites Had Bradley Cooper Wavering to Stay Onboard
Released more than a decade ago in 2013, the crime thriller encompassed the life of stunt rider Luke Glanton, who has a change of heart as he jumps into robbery to lead a happy life with his child and lover Romina. However, a leap of bad luck leads him to a collision course with police officer Avery Cross, further leading them to a series of unfortunate events affecting their families.
The Place Beyond the Pines was helmed by Derek Cianfrance and earned a considerable amount of love from both critics and general audiences alike, with its reviews and not-so-bad box office earnings. However, one major element almost affected the creation of this R-rated piece of work: Bradley Cooper‘s involvement in the film, who played the prominent role of Officer Cross in the film.
Although the film later became renowned as one of Cooper’s best performances to date, the Maestro star was actually initially hesitant to continue after signing up for it. This was because “every word” of the script was rewritten after writer Darius Marder was brought on board, and the actor felt this updated script wasn’t really what he signed up for.
As filmmaker Cianfrance recently shared during IndieWire’s Screen Talk live at the New Directors/New Films festival:
“I had given [Darius Marder] the script and he had a lot of notes for it, and I kind of agreed with a lot of what he was saying. And so we rewrote every word from 10 weeks to six weeks,” Cianfrance said.
But when he shared the script with The Hangover star, the reaction was the proper opposite of what the Blue Valentine director expected to get. As he recalled:
“I remember giving Bradley Cooper the copy of ‘The Place Beyond the Pines,’ the new script, and getting a voice message from him saying, ‘Bro, I just want to let you know I read the new draft and I’m out.’ He was like, ‘That’s not the movie that we had signed up to do.’”
Because of all the creative differences between what he signed up for and what the film’s script eventually ended up becoming, Cooper’s commitment started to waver and he almost quit the movie that had kick-started Glanton portrayer Ryan Gosling‘s romantic involvement with his now-wife and Romina portrayer Eva Mendes.
However, Cianfrance needed him to stay on the project – not only because he was perfect for the role but also because the Limitless actor’s involvement brought about the project’s partial funding. Thus, he did everything he could to get him to agree to the film. And by ‘everything’, we mean launching into a full-blown convincing conversation that lasted almost 4 hours.
Derek Cianfrance had Bradley Cooper up all Night to Convince Him to do the Film
Since having one of the leads back out of the project at the last minute possible (right a day before the filmmaker moved with the crew to the shooting location!) wasn’t the best of situations, Derek Cianfrance decided to pursue Cooper until he finally gave in. This persuasion lasted for more than three hours after midnight.
As the director shared:
“I was like, ‘Can I come talk to you?’ So I went up to Montreal, and I had a long conversation with him from midnight to 3:30 in the morning where I got him back on. It was only in the last five minutes [when I convinced him]. I think he just got tired. He wanted to go to bed.”
Well, it was only for the better that Derek Cianfrance finally got Cooper to not bow out of the film, considering the massive appraisal the actor received for his breathtaking performance in the same. For instance, IndieWire claimed Cooper’s portrayal had “never been better” than what he did in the 2013 film, which is inevitably a true remark of commendation.
Although, yes, the film couldn’t become a smash hit at the worldwide box office, it still managed to score a stunning $47 million on its budget of $15 million (as per the numbers via Box Office Mojo), which might as well be called a successful box office run.
You can stream A Place Beyond the Pines on Prime Video.
