Bradley Cooper opened up to British GQ about the life-changing experience of watching his dad Charles Cooper pass away. He feels privileged that he was able to share his father’s last breath because it made death real for him in a way that banished some of his anxieties and changed his outlook on life.
Via The Daily Mail:
“Death became very real. And very tangible. Because my father – someone who had been in my life for 36 years is just [bleeping] gone. I watched him dying, and I was there by his bed watching him, breathing with him, and then I saw his last breath, and he was gone.
I experienced the whole thing. And that was a watershed moment that I was privileged to experience. And it changed everything. Nothing has been the same since.
My father gave me two gifts – having me and dying with me. I used to be the kid that got the shakes if I had to talk in public; now, I just don’t get nervous about stuff.”
Everyone harbors a fear of death, but sometimes it feels like our society tries to shield our eyes from it, or further separate us from it by sensationalizing it and making us fear it. It sounds like Bradley was able to confront death in a natural way that inspired him and changed the way he encounters the world.
Bradley also told the magazine that’s he’s stopped drinking because he felt like it was making his life spiral out of control.
The actor is also close with his mom, who he took to the Oscars where he was nominated for his moving performance in Silver Linings Playbook.
Bradley with his mom Gloria Cooper at the 2013 Academy Awards.
