Bradley Cooper has admitted he is not sure he would be alive if he hadn’t become a dad.
The Hangover star, 49, welcomed his daughter Lea with his model ex-girlfriend Irina Shayk in 2017 and explained how raising his little girl prompted him to change his life for the better and put his previous battles with addiction behind him for good.
During an appearance on the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard podcast, Bradley emotionally explained: ‘Honestly I’m not sure I’d be alive if I wasn’t a dad. I don’t know what would have happened. I am not sure.’
‘I just needed someone to say, like, “We’re gonna drop this massive anchor”. I’m like, “Why? We’re speeding! I just got an upgrade on the boat, and I know where the wind’s coming in.”
They’re like, “No, no, no, there’s a tsunami coming in, and you need an anchor and we’re gonna drop it. Because this is gonna dictate everything you do from now on. Your DNA is going to tell you that there’s something more important than you”.’
Bradley went on to insist he changed his life because he wanted to give Lea a more stable upbringing than his own after his early years were blighted by alcoholism in his family.
He added: ‘I’m a father [seeking to do] the least amount of damage I can do to my daughter. To have a child not grow up in that way … I want her to have, as much as she can, a foundation that’s like 25 feet thick, cement, that she can walk on this earth with. That’s the goal.
‘I can just feel the safety that she feels. It’s so tangible; it’s palpable,. That is so fulfilling.’
The actor also opened up about his feelings for Lea, admitting he didn’t feel the strong love of a father until a couple of months after her birth.
He said: ‘[For the first couple of months I thought] “I don’t even know if I really love the kid. It’s dope. It’s cool. I’m watching this thing morph”… [But] all of a sudden, it’s like no question.’
Last summer Bradley spoke about how he was raising his daughter, as he explained: ‘I think, I mean, you learn from your predecessor’s mistakes. And I’ll make tons that hopefully Lea will learn from.
‘And then…end up being rigorous with myself to grow, to help unburden her with any of my s**t.’
It comes after Bradley was roasted by fans after bursting into tears over ‘missing’ late Maestro composer Leonard Bernstein – despite never meeting him.
The acclaimed actor, who is nominated in the Best Actor Oscar category for his portrayal of Bernstein, broke down in tears as he spoke during a resurfaced December interview with CBS Sunday Morning – surrounded by the composer’s children.
Bernstein died aged 72 in 1990 when Bradley was just 15 and an aspiring actor – but the star said he felt the composer’s ‘energy’ during Maestro filming.
When asked if he missed Bernstein, Bradley teared up as he said: ‘Oh, yeah. It’s hard to talk about.
‘I don’t know. We shared something very special, the four of us [referring to Bernstein’s children Jamie, Nina and Alexander] It’s hard to even articulate, but he was with me, certainly, throughout the entire time.
‘His energy has somehow found its way to me and I really do feel like I know him.’
Fans on TikTok quickly slated the star for his emotional reaction, with one writing: ‘Bradley Cooper is an idiot even [Bernstein’s] kids didn’t get that emotional.’
Another typed: ‘Bradley Cooper was 15 years old when this man died, he doesn’t miss or know s**t’ while a third quipped: ‘This is his best performance!’
Another penned: ‘Austen [sic] Butler and his Elvis voice. Bradley and this weirdo s–t. These actors and their god complexes’ while one fan wrote: ‘This is actually embarrassing Maestro is such an obvious Oscar bait.’
Others defended Bradley saying: ‘He literally studied the man for 3 years. Practiced his role day in and day out. No doubt it’s become a part of him.’
Last year Bradley revealed he spent six years how to compose music for Maestro.
He revealed to moderator Lin-Manuel Miranda during a New York Citytastemaker screening that he spent six years to learn composing… for a six-minute scene.
The scene in question was capturing Bernstein’s iconic performance conducting the 1976 London Symphony Orchestra in Ely Cathedral, which ‘terrified’ Bradley.
![When asked if he missed Bernstein, Bradley teared up as he said: 'Oh, yeah. It's hard to talk about. 'I don't know. We shared something very special, the four of us [referring to Bernstein's children Jamie, Nina and Alexander]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/28/09/81744535-13128455-When_asked_if_he_missed_Bernstein_Cooper_teared_up_as_he_said_Oh-a-12_1709112176137.jpg)
Maestro trailer stars Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan
‘That scene I was so worried about because we did it live. That was the London Symphony Orchestra. I was recorded live, I had to conduct them,’ Bradley said.
‘And I spent six years learning how to conduct six minutes and 21 seconds of music,’ he admitted, while crediting his ‘wonderful teachers’ for all their help along the way.
‘I was able to get the raw take where I just watched Leonard Bernstein [conduct] at Ely Cathedral with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1976,’ Bradley said.
‘And so I had that to study. And Yannick Nézet-Séguin made videos with all the tempo changes, so I had all of the materials to just work on,’ he continued.
‘It was really about dialing exactly what I wanted cinematically and theninviting them into then inhabit that space and trusting that they have all done the work,’ Bradley added.
‘Because I think that I knew, I was terrified, absolutely terrified that if I hadn’t done the work that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself in these scenes. And everybody did,’ he said.
The film has picked up seven Oscar nominations including Best Actor, Actress for Carey Mulligan and Best Picture.
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