19 August 2023 , 21:45
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Bradley Cooper has candidly revealed that he's "lucky to be sober," after his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction almost saw him lose his life. The Star Is Born actor opened up to survivalist Bear Grylls in a recent episode of National Geographic’s Running Wild With Bear Grylls: The Challenge.
Bear asked Bradley about his “wild years," to which he answers: "In terms of alcohol and drugs, yeah, but nothing to do with fame. But I was lucky. I got sober at 29 years old, and I’ve been sober for 19 years. Very lucky."
The Hollywood actor battled a heavy drug and alcohol addiction in the early 2000s which he admits resulted in a hinderance to his work. He previously shared how his addiction saw that he was fired from the Jennifer Garner action-thriller series “Alias.”
Bradley opened up to Bear Grylls (National Geographic for Disney/Jeff Ellingson)He said he nearly suffered a similar relapse in 2011 after his father died following a cancer battle, telling Bear: "I definitely had a nihilistic attitude towards life after, just like I thought ‘I’m going to die,' I don’t know, it wasn’t great for a little bit until I thought I have to embrace who I actually am and try to find a peace with that, and then it sort of evened out.”
He added that playing a character that faced similar issues in A Star Is Born alongside Lady Gaga helped him to "let go." He said: "It made it easier to be able to really enter in there and thank goodness I was at a place in my life where I was at ease with all of that so I could really let myself go.”
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He said a Star Is Born was a huge help (Warner Bros. Ent.)“I’ve been very lucky with the roles I’ve had to play. It’s been a real blessing. I hope I get to keep doing it,” Bradley continued. It comes after he recently sparked a furious backlash following the release of a trailer for his upcoming film Maestro as he is accused of employing offensive Jewish stereotypes.
The 48-year-old actor plays iconic American conductor, composer and musician Leonard Bernstein in the new film. Early shots form the film have shown Bradley with a prosthetic nose which many film fans are slamming as stereotyping Jewish people - and drawing criticism of anti-Semitism against the actor-director.
Bradley recieved backlashThe fact that Bradley himself is not Jewish has also drawn criticism - while co-star Carey Mulligan is playing Leonard’s wife, Felicia Bernstein, and the British actress has been panned for accepting a role of a half Jewish half Costa Rican woman.