Bradley Cooper Covers Vanity Fair And Opens Up On Loss And Sobriety

Eight ball, corner pocket!
Except for some reason the balls on this billiards table are bright red and look like Christmas tree ornaments, but we’re not Vanity Fair‘s style editors, so we probably shouldn’t judge.
One thing’s for sure: Bradley Cooper looks determined and delicious on the magazine’s January cover, and if that was a real pool game, he’d be hitting balls in left and right!
The actor opens up in the interview portion, talking about everything from his new role in American Sniper to his sobriety and the devastating loss of his father, Charles Cooper, who passed away in 2011.
The loss had a huge effect on the 39-year-old and made him reconsider some of his old views on life.
He said:

“Losing someone close to me. Going through love and loss . . . knowing what’s important. Realizing that the bottom line is that all I got is me, so it’s about time to stop trying to be something that I think you would want me to be. Or that would give me what I think I need. As you get older, thank God, your body deteriorates, but your soul sort of flourishes.”

As he approaches 40 (his birthday is January 5), the multiple Oscar-nominee admits that he’s gotten wiser through the years, revealing:

“I see life much more gray as I get older. I was so sort of black-and-white in my late 20s. There’s right and there’s wrong and that’s it. That’s a tough way to live. It’s rare that I judge somebody, really rare. I think people feel that, so it’s sort of easy to get close to somebody if you don’t feel judged by them.”

Bradley also touched on how he continues to maintain his 10-year sobriety. While prepping for his role as a Navy SEAL in American Sniper, he had to bulk up considerably, but chose to do it without supplements.
He explained:

“I did it naturally because I’ve been sober for 10 years and didn’t want to do anything. I had a realistic conversation. Can I do this in three months naturally? Can I gain 30 pounds of f*cking muscle? I didn’t know if I would be able to do it or not. Thank God├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥luckily├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥my f*cking body reacted fast.”

Thirty pounds of muscle??? We can’t WAIT to see that! Ha!
Check out an additional picture of the actor in the gallery (above)!
[Image via Vanity Fair]