Bradley Cooper has been sober for 10 years

BRADLEY Cooper has opened up about reaching ten years of sobriety and how this, coupled with his father’s death in 2011, helped him prepare for his latest role.

BRADLEY Cooper has opened up about reaching ten years of sobriety and how this, coupled with his father’s death in 2011, helped him prepare for his latest role.

The 39-year-old’s upcoming film, American Sniper, in which he plays Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle is his most challenging role yet and one which required him to physically transform himself.

“I did it naturally,” Cooper told Vanity Fair, adding that he took no stimulants to help him bulk up. “Because I’ve been sober for 10 years and didn’t want to do anything. I had a realistic conversation: Can I do this in three months naturally? Can I gain 30 pounds of f---ing muscle? I didn’t know if I would be able to do it or not. Thank God - luckily - my f---ing body reacted fast.”

Bradley Cooper on the cover of Vanity Fair.

Cooper finally decided to come clean at the age of 29 after cutting his head open during a night of wild partying.

“I was at a party, and deliberately bashed my head on the concrete floor. Like, ‘Hey, look how tough I am!’ he told The Hollywood Reporter in September last year.

“I did it again. And I spent the night at St. Vincent’s Hospital with a sock of ice, waiting for them to stitch me up.”

He says the experience was a wake up call for him and after that, he completely quit drugs and alcohol.

Bradley Cooper in a scene from American Sniper.

“I don’t drink or do drugs anymore. 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?’

“I was so concerned what you thought of me, how I how I was coming across, how I would survive the day.

“I always felt like an outsider. I just lived in my head. I realised 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.’”

Cooper also said the death of his father Charles three years ago impacted on his ability to play his latest role.

“Losing someone close to me [helped me prepare],” Cooper said of losing his dad.

“Going through love and loss…knowing what’s important. Realising that the bottom line is that all I got is me, so it’s about time to stop trying to be something that I think you would want me to be. Or that would give me what I think I need. As you get older, thank God, your body deteriorates, but your soul sort of flourishes.”

Bradley Cooper in a scene from American Sniper.