Bradley Cooper Watched His Father Die! Says It Was A 'Gift'!

Bradley Cooper is one of our favorite actors- and we’re not alone! We were so excited to see him get his first Oscar nom this year!
But the Silver Linings Playbook star says he wouldn’t be where he is emotionally if it weren’t for one seminal moment in his life- the death of his father. He says:

“Death became very real. And very tangible. Because my father ├óΓé¼ΓÇ£ someone who had been in my life for 36 years is just f–king gone. I watched him dying, and I was there by his bed watching him, breathing with him, and then I saw his last breath, and he was gone.
I experienced the whole thing. And that was a watershed moment that I was privileged to experience. And it changed everything. Nothing has been the same since.
My father gave me two gifts – having me and dying with me. I used to be the kid that got the shakes if I had to talk in public; now, I just don’t get nervous about stuff.
I can’t control everything. I watched my father die, and I realized that is the way we are all going to die. For me, it was a switch from knowing something intellectually to knowing it by tangibly experiencing it. It rewired my neurological system. It almost did the opposite of motivating me.
It was about keeping the main thing the main thing.”

Um, wow. We guess everyone who has had to go through that harrowing experience knows exactly how Bradley feels.
At least we hope they all feel as privileged about it, though we’ve never quite heard it put that way. What an extraordinary attitude!
[Image via Brian To/WENN.]