Movies - TV
'Insecurity And Ego' Made Bradley Cooper Say Yes To Nightmare Alley
By DEVIN MEENAN
You may have noticed that after his 2018 directorial debut with “A Star is Born,” Bradley Cooper fell off the radar for a while. Aside from voicing Rocket Raccoon in “Avengers Endgame,” making a brief cameo in “Licorice Pizza,” and producing “Joker,” Cooper didn’t return to acting until Guillermo del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley,” and the actor had one reason for taking on the role.
Although he had only been interested in acting in the films he himself wrote, he agreed to take on “Nightmare Alley” because of a mix of insecurity and ego. Cooper revealed that part of the reason he directed “A Star Is Born,” was because “the directors [he] admired weren’t hiring [him],” so when del Toro approached him, he jumped at the opportunity.
Cooper recalled, “del Toro came to me […] then it was like, 'Of course, I have to do it just because I've never been allowed into that group.' It was insecurity and ego.” Cooper called the film “an incredible experience.” Likewise, del Toro recalled that "[he and Cooper] connected also as storytellers," and he "never imagined [their relationship] would be as deep as it became.”