Is It Time to Rethink Bradley Cooper?

Bradley Cooper has given countless high-profile interviews on behalf of The Hangover Part II, but the one in which he came off best was never intended to be seen in the United States. It was his recent appearance on a French chat show speaking perfect, fluent French, which became a swoon-inspiring YouTube phenomenon and even persuaded some pundits who had dismissed the actor to reevaluate him. On May 20, before the video exploded, Hollywood Elsewhere's Jeff Wells called Cooper a "fizzy-souled showbiz whore"; on June 1, after viewing the clip, Wells posted the video and grudgingly admitted, "Like those who play piano and can quote Shakespeare at length, I've always been impressed by French-speakers." Maybe Cooper should try this French thing a little more often. Or, alternately, are people starting to realize that they had been kind of a dick to him? Because really, why was he so divisive in the first place? A NextMovie blog post called him the "most polarizing actor in Hollywood," but Cooper has hardly fed into that perception himself. Though his good looks and his occasional squiring of famous actresses may have contributed to the rancor, it's more likely that audiences had simply come to associate the 36-year-old too strongly with his two breakout roles: Wedding Crashers, where he played a fratty asshole, and The Hangover films, where he plays a smug jerk. In recent months, Cooper has committed to playing the title role in a remake of The Crow and Lucifer in Paradise Lost. For people who know him only as Phil from The Hangover, those projects sounded like a stretch. But for those who had followed Cooper's career before he became a box-office star, it was his facility for antagonistic roles that came as a surprise, since he had often been typecast as the perennial sensitive sweetheart. Before Wedding Crashers, Cooper was best known for playing Jennifer Garner’s friend on Alias — the so-called beta male compared with Michael Vartan — and earlier he had a memorable supporting role in Wet Hot American Summer, where his character had an intimate encounter with Michael Ian Black’s character and later married him. Suffice it to say, neither of those would be high on Phil's Netflix list.

Bradley Cooper has given countless high-profile interviews on behalf of The Hangover Part II, but the one where he came off best was never intended to be seen in the United States: his recent appearance on a French talk show speaking fluent French, which became a YouTube phenomenon and prompted some critics who’d dismissed him to reevaluate the actor. On May 20, before the video went viral, Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeff Wells had called Cooper a "fizzy-souled showbiz whore." On June 1, after viewing the clip, Wells posted the video and admitted, "Like those who play piano and can quote Shakespeare at length, I’ve always been impressed by French-speakers." Perhaps Cooper should use French more often. Alternatively, people may be realizing they were too harsh toward him. Why was he so divisive? A NextMovie blog post called him the "most polarizing actor in Hollywood," but Cooper has not always encouraged that image. Although his looks and occasional relationships with famous actresses may have contributed, audiences had likely come to associate the 36-year-old too strongly with his two breakout roles: Wedding Crashers, where he played a fratty character, and the Hangover films, in which he portrayed a smug character. Recently, Cooper committed to the title role in a remake of The Crow and to playing Lucifer in Paradise Lost; for those who know him only as Phil from The Hangover, those projects seemed like a stretch. But for people who followed his career before he became a box-office star, his facility for edgier roles was less surprising, since he had earlier been more likely to be typecast as a sensitive sweetheart. Before Wedding Crashers, Cooper was best known for playing Jennifer Garner’s friend on Alias, and earlier he had a notable supporting role in Wet Hot American Summer, in which he portrayed a gay character. In recent months he has shown his versatility in Limitless, a sleeper hit he helped carry, and his ambition and intelligence: he is writing the screenplay for Hyperion, a sci‑fi novel optioned by Graham King. He has also shown humility—saying he doubts anyone would let him direct Hyperion—and a self‑effacing approach to pursuing roles, even launching a playful bid for Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby through the New York Times. Charismatic and affable, he is a strong talk‑show guest in any language; for his Esquire cover story he prepared a stuffed‑squid dinner for the interviewer. It may seem excessive that a male movie star could be so charming and guileless, but why not? After all, George Clooney can’t do it all.