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In anticipation of The Hangover (read Drew Lazor's review), I got to talk to star and Jenkintown native Bradley Cooper about his role in the film. Cooper was slick and comfortable talking to the four journos in the room, but when asked his most salient memory of his Jenkintown roots, all he could think to say was trains (dude, trains?) and SEPTA (mentioned with equal parts fondness and disgust ' a true native).
What I find most interesting about Cooper is his career switch. Like most who actually remember his name, I first saw him as Ben in Wet Hot American Summer (husband of Michael Ian Black's McKinley) and, from that, Alias (I wasn't an avid viewer, but got that he was playing token nice guy). But then there was a shift, not only in his role choices, but physically, as well. Cooper beefed up and stole the show as Lodge, Rachel McAdams' popped collar fianc' in Wedding Crashers. He's worked as a mean guy ever since ' namely in He's Just Not That Into You, where he essentially plays douche epitomized (and gets to bang Jennifer Connelly and Scarlett Johansson in the process). What's the deal with all the asshole roles, Brad?
First off, he doesn't think his Hangover character, Phil, falls into the same Lodge category (Drew calls him "rakish"): "I don't see him as that. Look, he's an alpha male but his bark is a little bit bigger than his bite. To me at least, he's the whole reason why they find [groom-to-be] Doug. He'll go to the end of earth to help these guys. At the end of the movie, and I'm so glad we kept this in, you gotta show that he's a father and that he's a good father."
Touche. OK, Phil comes through in the end ' but that doesn't explain everything else. Give it a whirl:
"I actually stayed away from a lot of asshole roles after Wedding Crashers," say Cooper. "After Alias, where I played the nicest guy in the world, no one would see me for roles that are at all edgy, at all. Like, 'Oh Bradley, he's such a nice guy.' But I was acting! I was playing those guys! Then I got Wedding Crashers and [director David] Dobkin didn't know anything about Alias. Something clicked in the room and he took a chance on me. After Wedding Crashers was a success, it was always, 'Isn't he kind of an asshole?'"
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