Why Bradley Cooper Didn't Think He Would Land His The Hangover Role

Bradley Cooper's image has changed a lot over the years. From "A Star is Born" to "Maestro," today's Cooper likes to play roles that are more complicated and introspective. But before he could go for the artsy roles that showed off his range, he first had to make a name for himself as the confident jerk. He played an over-the-top dirtbag boyfriend in 2005's "Wedding Crashers," and an irredeemable cheating husband in 2009's "He's Just Not That Into You." If you wanted to cast a mean dude for the audience to hate, mid-2000s Cooper was your guy. 

That's why "The Hangover" in 2009 was such a good transitional role for him: he was still playing a selfish, opportunistic person, but his character Phil had a heart of gold underneath that rough exterior. This movie proved he could handle the more sympathetic big roles he played in "Silver Linings Playbook" or even the "Guardians of the Galaxy" films. He just needed to get hired for "The Hangover" first, and that was the hardest part. 

"I actually thought there's no way in hell I'd get this role," Cooper told The Hollywood Reporter in 2013. His reasoning was partly that director Todd Phillips was "sort of the alpha, really cool guy," and because Phillips would want a larger name for such a major role. Not only was Bradley Cooper not that big of a star at the time, but Phillips' last few projects hadn't gone over that well at the box office. To sell an original film like this, Cooper figured Phillips would want to reel in a bigger name. After four months with no definitive response, Cooper thought the opportunity had passed. 

Another reason to doubt the project: Cooper also tried to call Phillips back, only to get bad news. "I remember checking in, and they said, 'Yeah, budgetary problems; they're going to need a name.'" But Phillips liked Cooper more than he thought; after finally getting a budget approved, at a lower number than he'd originally hoped, Phillips got back in touch with Cooper and offered him the role. As Cooper described it:

"I'm doing a play in Williamstown [Mass.], trying to figure out what the f*** I'm going to do with my life. And I'm sitting there in the apartment in between matinees, and I get a text [from Phillips]: 'Are we going to f***ing do this?' I was like: 'I haven't heard from you in f***ing four months! Are you serious?' [Phillips was] like, 'Yeah, we're going to make "The Hangover.'"

"The Hangover" was a huge critical hit that also grossed $469 million at the box office. Not too shabby, considering it was made on a $35 million budget. The movie sparked two popular sequels, made it much easier for Todd Phillips to fund his future projects, and firmly cemented Bradley Cooper as a household name. From 2009 onward, Cooper has had no shortage of new projects to choose from, although he still wouldn't mind going back to the "Hangover" franchise one last time. 

"I would do probably Hangover 4 in an instant, yeah," he told The New Yorker last year. "Just because I love Todd, I love Zach [Galifianakis], I love Ed [Helms] so much."