Bradley Cooper opens up about addiction and sobriety

When Bradley Cooper burst on to the scene with his frat boyish role in Wedding Crashers it was immediately apparent that the actor had the face and talent to have a successful Hollywood career. This promise was fully realized when he and the crew from The Hangover destroyed box offices while stirring it up in Las Vegas.

This often portrayed confidant persona from Bradley, heck his name is “Bradley,” might give folks the wrong impression of the now A-list actor. In a revealing interview with The Hollywood Reporter the world’s “sexiest man alive” opens up quite a bit and reveals a vulnerable man of warmth and depth.

The director of The Hangover films, Todd Phillips, said of Cooper:

“He is ridiculously different in real life. People think he is just playing a version of himself, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. He is very vulnerable — insecure is not the right word — and that character is just straight-up confident. And there’s a warmth to him you would never know.”

One of the things Bradley discusses is how he struggled with addiction. “I don’t drink or do drugs at all anymore. Being sober helps a great deal.”

He then relays a story that reveals just how desperate things had become for him:

“I was at a party and deliberately bashed my head on the concrete floor — like, ‘Hey, look how tough I am!’ And I came up, and blood dripped down. And then I did it again. I spent the night at St. Vincent’s Hospital with a sock of ice, waiting for them to stitch me up.”

He adds:

“I was so concerned what you thought of me, how I was coming across, how I would survive the day. I always felt like an outsider. I just lived in my head. I realized I wasn’t going to live up to my potential, and that scared the hell out of me. I thought, ‘Wow, I’m actually gonna ruin my life; I’m really gonna ruin it.’ “

The 37-year-old gave up all the partying ways when he was 29. Looks like that turned out to be a pretty good career decision.

Speaking of his career, Cooper is an extremely busy man now as 2012 finds him in the films, The Words, Hit and Run, The Place Beyond the Pines, and Silver Linings Playbook. Oh yeah, he’s also currently filming The Hangover III (awesome) and will also star in a 2013 film in post-production entitled Serena.

The feature is a great read. I encourage you to check out the full story here.