Bradley Cooper’s most embarrassing audition: “Needless to say, I didn’t get the job”
If somebody asked you how many Oscars Bradley Cooper had been nominated for, would you know the answer was 12? There are his acting nods for the likes of Silver Linings Playbook, American Sniper, and American Hustle, but he’s also directed two feature films – A Star is Born and Maestro – both of which were up for ‘Best Picture’. As the producer of American Sniper, Nightmare Alley, and Joker, he was also entitled to a slice of their respective pies. Basically, Mr Cooper is a very successful man.
It hasn’t always run so smoothly for the modern-day hunk. He’s struggled his way to the top just like everyone else, making plenty of mistakes in the process. When he was turned down for a part in Michael Mann’s Public Enemies, Cooper used that rejection as a chance to reevaluate his acting career, and now credits his subsequent triumphs to this moment.
Another failed audition that Cooper looks back on less fondly was brought up in an interview with Movies. The star was asked whether or not he’d gone up for the title role in the 2011 film, Green Lantern. “I did, but I didn’t get it,” he revealed. “Ryan Reynolds did. And I would have chosen him had it been up to me, too. I think the trouble was that when I auditioned, it being a superhero movie, I couldn’t help but do my Christian Bale ‘Batman’ voice. I don’t know why. Needless to say, I didn’t get the job.”
The superhero movie revolution would have been in its infancy when Cooper read for the part of Hal Jordan. There were two paths he could have gone down that had been proven successful by existing movies. The first was the wisecracking, billionaire playboy approach that Robert Downey Jr had brought to Iron Man, setting him up as the de facto leader of the blossoming Marvel Cinematic Universe. On the DC side of things, Cooper would have looked at Christian Bale’s Dark Knight trilogy and seen the gritty, realism-based portrayal of Bruce Wayne as a damaged soul putting himself through hell for some imagined penance. Sadly, he went for the wrong one.
Ultimately, however, he dodged a massive bullet. Green Lantern is widely regarded as one of the worst superhero movies ever made. Its failure was so great that DC pivoted entirely, opting to pour their focus into the upcoming Man of Steel and make that the beginning of their official ‘Extended Universe’. It almost killed Reynolds’ career stone dead, but he was able to rescue it from the flames with Deadpool five years later. He still really hates it.
As for Cooper, it wouldn’t be long before he landed a superhero gig of his own. Since 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, he has voiced Rocket Raccoon in the MCU. This role put him on the cast list for Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, two of the highest-grossing movies of all time, and the three standalone ‘Guardians’ films are amongst the most beloved of the franchise.
Sometimes, an actor not getting a part in an audition can set them back years. In other cases, such as this one, they can spare you from the humiliation of a movie so bad, it is still being mocked over a decade after its release, including by the people who made it.
