There have been rumors that Bradley Cooper scored $5 million to star in the sequel to his breakout film, “The Hangover,” but you honestly wouldn’t know it, given his fondness for freebies.
When we catch up with Cooper while he promotes his new film, “Limitless,” the Philly native is lounging on a couch in the Trump SoHo hotel with a backpack by his feet. The logo on the bag looked familiar, so we asked if it was from one of his other recent films.
“‘The A-Team’? Yeah, I love it. It’s the greatest. You wanna see it?” Cooper asks, excitedly pulling over the military-grade sack with the logo from last year’s summer blockbuster, in which Cooper also starred, emblazoned on the front.
“All I wear is stuff from movies,” the 36-year-old confesses, rattling off the free promo items he sports from, well, almost every film he’s been in lately.
“I went to the airport one time and I had a ‘Yes Man’ carry-on bag that I used until it basically fell apart, a ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’ parka. I always wear the ‘A-Team’ hat and backpack. And uh, yeah. It makes me look like an idiot,” he laughs.
Many would find that hard to imagine, considering Cooper is the suave leading man in “Limitless,” a struggling writer who suddenly becomes a power-player once he stumbles upon a drug that allows him access to his brain’s fullest potential.
The immediate success that the fictional drug, NZT, brings his character seems to mirror Cooper’s own fast shot to fame, though he did it without any kind of chemical aid. So in his experience, do the most famous actors and actresses become successful because they’re truly the best at what they do?
“Isn’t it like what Oprah said? ‘Luck is opportunity meets preparation,’” Cooper says. This guy loves swag and watches Oprah? Seriously?!
Is it NZT or tiger blood?
Since the drug in “Limitless,” NZT, makes the person who takes it nearly invincible, we started to wonder if a certain out-of-control celebrity has discovered a real-life version of the very same thing. Is Charlie Sheen taking NZT?
“The difference is, I don’t think [my character] Eddie would ever talk about being on the drug,” Cooper reasons. “He’d just be on it, doing s—.” Cooper pauses a moment thoughtfully, “Maybe he is taking it.”
Follow Heidi Patalano on Twitter at @HeidiatMetro.
