Bradley Cooper, star of The Hangover and my personal favorite Silver Linings Playbook--
"I was at a party, and deliberately bashed my head on the concrete floor," Cooper recalls for the Hollywood Reporter in its Sept. 14 cover story.
"Like, 'Hey, look how tough I am!' "
The incident, which occurred while he was under the influence, left Cooper with blood dripping from his body, but still wanting more.
"I did it again," he says. "[And] I spent the night at St. Vincent's Hospital with a sock of ice, waiting for them to stitch me up."
This was just one of many moments that led Cooper to much healthier decision-making.
"I don't drink or do drugs anymore," he says, adding that he gave them up at age 29. "Being sober helps a great deal … I remember looking at my life, my apartment, my dogs [when I was still using], and I thought, 'What's happening?' "
Before becoming an actor – and PEOPLE's 2011 Sexiest Man Alive – Cooper wasn't comfortable in his own skin.
"I was so concerned what you thought of me, how I was coming across, how I would survive the day," he says. "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." [end article]
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Our stories are so similar, it's uncanny! I also had the concrete floor experience, minus the blood...totally for attention.
Alright, on track now. In 2006, I was living in NYC and-- with only 8 months of sobriety --I was bound and determined to start my own literary agency.
I would occasionally treat myself to shows and heard Julia Roberts was making her Broadway debut in Three Days of Rain with Paul Rudd and some new actor-- Bradley Cooper. I was so game!
Sold out show? I'd find a way in, plus this had never stopped me before in college. I was determined so I stood patiently in line. Then, serendipity occurred when someone couldn't make the show. The theatre sold me the ticket! Awesome.
I quickly sat in my balcony seat, all-prepped to watch great talent grace the stage. The anticipation to finally see Julia Roberts perform live was nothing short of amazing. I had never taken rare moments such as these for granted. Who could?!
So, I'm all excited for a great performance from Julia Roberts, though the production energy began to feel heavy and confusing. Ultimately, I think she just wasn't on it that particular show and unfortunately the audience was stiff. I felt empathy while watching Paul Rudd overcompensate in his performance for what seemed to be Julia's nervousness. I was a bit perterbed as people started to get up out of their seats. Come on people, really?
Then out walks Bradley Cooper and BAM! He stole the show! He was unpredictable, charming, energetic and full of life! I kept thinking Who is this guy??
After the show, like always, everyone waits for the actors to walk out and sign their Playbill. Well, I had never seen such a line! The whole street was absolutely packed with people trying to even catch a glimpse of Julia Roberts. Yeah, yeah, I wanted to meet Mr. Cooper-and I did.
When he came out he walked up to me and I told him he saved the show. He looked at me for a moment to I guess digest what I had just said, "Thank you. Are you an actress?" I replied with an honest, "I used to be, but now a literary agent."
We made small chat for a brief moment and then I left, so excited I had to tell my soon-to-be new boss Caren Bohrman about this man's talent! (Oh, I had been offered a job if I moved back to Los Angeles to work for her agency. Ms. Bohrman, you are truly missed and, wow, what a wonderful mentor and contribution!)
Alright, so fast forward about two years later and, after vying for this man's talent to several producers and agents, I am now living in Los Angeles and still hadn't seen him in much! At this time I believe I had already been laid off during the Writer's Strike and was onto a new company idea (dreaming big and setting new goals has really helped to keep me moving forward, better and sober) and was talking with some potential clients in Beverly Hills.
So, anyway...I get lost in the Hollywood Hills trying to get over in Studio City. I'm on the phone with a friend yackin away, not paying attention to where I am going-of course-when all of a sudden I find myself in a cul-de-sac and I have no clue where a main road even is. I put my friend on hold because there's a guy standing in the street on his phone. I ask him for directions to Laurel Canyon and he laughs, "How did you end up out here?" I had no idea. So, he tilts his sunglasses down a bit and shows me on a piece of paper how to get to where I need to go. I thank him, all the while thinking he looks super familiar, and finally I'm back onto a main road.
My friend--who's still on the phone with me--is still laughing that I had gotten so lost. Then all of a sudden, I realized who that man was--Bradley Cooper!! I freaked and my friend thought I was crazier now because she had no idea who he even was...not until years later when his career blew up.
Still to this day, my friend Terri will keep me posted if she hears any news on Mr. Cooper-like the time he became her neighbor in Venice Beach and she tried convincing me to come out and spontaneously bump into him! She'd say, "I think there's a connection between you and Bradley Cooper." Well, today, I found out the connection--a life of recovery. I never knew he was sober and he's been in recovery a year longer than me. Freakin' awesome!
Hey, Mr. Cooper, thanks for Three Days of Rain, Silver Linings and for the directions to get over the mountain! Keep up the good work!
Radness:)
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