Bradley Cooper Opens Up About 19-Year Sobriety, Says Past Addiction ‘Made It Easier’ to Play ‘A Star Is Born’ Character

Bradley Cooper recently went deep into the icy canyons of the Wyoming Basin, where he opened up about his sobriety with Bear Grylls.

On a Season 2 episode of National Geographics Running Wild With Bear Grylls, the British adventurer asked Cooper about his most meaningful roles.

The Hangoverwas pretty career changing, Cooper said. I was 36 when that happened, so I was already in the game for 10 years just banging around, so I didnt get lost in fame.

But you definitely had some wild years, Grylls said, to which Cooper responded: In terms of alcohol and drugs, yeah. But that had nothing to do with fame, though.

I was lucky, Cooper continued. I got sober at 29 years old, and Ive been sober for 19 years. Ive been very lucky.

Cooper then explained how his past struggles with drugs and alcohol helped him dive into the character of Jackson Maine in 2018s A Star Is Born, which he directed and starred in alongside Lady Gaga.

It made it easier to be able to really enter in there, he said of the musical drama. 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.

In A Star Is Born, an adaptation of the 1937 romance and its 1954 and 1976 remakes, Cooper plays a rock star struggling with addiction.

Ive been very lucky with the roles Ive had to play, Cooper said. Its been a real blessing. I hope I get to keep doing it.

A Star Is Born earned eight Oscar nominations, winning one Academy Award for Cooper and Gagas Shallow in the best original song category.

Cooper will next be seen in the Leonard Bernstein biographical romance Maestro, in which he plays the legendary late conductor. Maestro, which Cooper also directed, will premiere at the 80th Venice Film Festival on Sept. 2 and will be thespotlight gala filmat New York Film Festival on Oct. 2. The movie will then have a limited theatrical window starting Nov. 22 before hitting Netflix on Dec. 20.