The 2000s witnessed Bradley Cooper trying to make a name for himself by starring in a boatload of raunchy comedies, including the gonzo cult classic Wet Hot American Summer. But it wasn’t until Todd Phillips’ Hangover that would put Cooper on the map, catapulting his career to new heights, even though the following two sequels didn’t quite capture the magic of the first one.
However, the years post-Hangover saw Cooper moving on from the genre to boast a more versatile filmography, shaping his career more in line with the 1980 classic that made him fall in love with cinema.
This David Lynch Classic Inspired Bradley Cooper to Pursue Acting
While The Elephant Man went unnoticed at the Oscars despite scoring eight nominations in ’81, it remains one of David Lynch‘s more celebrated films, often considered one of his best. Starring John Hurt and Thor Star Anthony Hopkins, the film follows the real-life story of Joseph Merrick, a deformed man, who was tormented by abuse before being rescued by Surgeon Frederick Teves.
The Maestro Star’s father, Charles Cooper, who was a cinephile himself, brought the emotional ride home for a young Bradley Cooper, and while the tragic tale broke him, it made him fall in love with cinema. The film would then push him to perform the play in grad school, and after proving himself as a dramatic actor with Silver Linings Playbook, he’d finally lead the Broadway revival of the 1977 stage play. Appearing on the The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, he said:
“It was actually the reason I wanted to become an actor. My father showed me this movie when I was a kid, and then I realized there was a play and I did it for my thesis in grad school, and then I did it in Williamstown two years ago.”
The American Sniper Star succeeded in doing justice to the material that pushed him into acting in the first place, as he scored a Tony nod for Best Actor in a Play following his performance.
Doing The Elephant Man Was a Revelation for Bradley Cooper
Speaking with CBS in 2014, Bradley Cooper explained the difference between doing the Hangover movies and tackling a real-life figure in The Elephant Man. While he said in some ways playing a real-life figure was easier for him, it had its challenges, as it was a “much different feeling than playing a character that’s just been created out of someone’s imagination.”
Cooper also revealed playing Joseph Merrick helped him find a “whole reservoir of energy” within him that he was previously oblivious to. He said,
“There’s a whole reservoir of energy that I didn’t know that I had that I can dedicate to it. And you’re constantly giving over to it. Like every night before the play that I’ve done, you know I really do have a moment with Merrick and thank him and hope I do right by him.”
In the following years after leading the play, Cooper has embraced tackling stories based on or inspired by true stories, with the recent addition to his filmography being Maestro.
The Elephant Man is available to stream on Paramount Plus.
