Academy Award-nominated actor and filmmaker Bradley Cooper is one of the most famous faces in Hollywood today. Pennsylvania-born Cooper, 51, has been nominated no less than 12 times at the Oscars. While he’s yet to win one of the prestigious gongs, he’s clearly a hugely respected and established star.
His notable movie credits include the likes of 2009’s comedy “The Hangover,” 2012’s romantic comedy-drama “Silver Linings Playbook,” 2014’s superhero space opera “Guardians of the Galaxy,” 2014’s biographical war drama “American Sniper,” and 2018’s musical romantic drama “A Star Is Born.” His directorial credits include the likes of the aforementioned “A Star Is Born,” 2023’s biographical romantic drama “Maestro,” and 2025’s comedy-drama “Is This Thing On?” — all of which he also starred in, incidentally (per IMDb).
However, it wasn’t easy for Cooper. Like many major stars in the entertainment industry, he had to earn his place at the top of the acting world.
Cooper attended the Actors Studio Drama School (then part of The New School in New York City) for his professional training. He enrolled in the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program having been selected by its dean emeritus, the actor, writer, and talk show host James Lipton.
The star attended the school immediately after graduating from Georgetown University in 1997. He earned his MFA in acting in 2000 (Cooper famously missed his graduation ceremony to film “Wet Hot American Summer”).
While he was an acting student, Cooper attended the talk show “Inside the Actors Studio,” which was hosted by Lipton. He got to ask an A-lister a question on the show.
Bradley Cooper Asked Sean Penn a Great Question
The A-lister Bradley Cooper got to direct a question at was the brilliant Sean Penn. The video of their interaction is now available to watch on Instagram on the Industria Movies account (113,000 followers).
The video is captioned as follows: “Before he was world famous actor and director Bradley Cooper, Bradley Cooper was just a second year acting student looking to make his big break in the industry. Here he is attending an Inside the Actors Studio Q&A with Sean Penn where he gets the chance to pick the legendary actor’s brain.”
In the 55-second clip, Cooper introduces himself and says his question is about “Hurlyburly.” “Hurlyburly” was a 1998 independent comedy-drama movie directed by Anthony Drazan that Penn, 65, starred in.
Penn had already played his character, Eddie, in David Rabe’s Los Angeles stage production of “Hurlyburly” in the late 1980s. Cooper asked him what it was like to revisit a character he’d already portrayed after a decade.
Sean Penn Answered Cooper’s Question in Detail
GettyMuch to his credit, Sean Penn answered Bradley Cooper’s question with a lot of care. He went into detail regarding his experience playing Eddie for a second time.
Penn explained that it was the first time he’d done a movie based on a play he’d already appeared in. He ultimately surmised that the “Hurlyburly” play essentially functioned as an intense rehearsal for his role in the movie.
Throughout Penn’s answer, Cooper appears transfixed, clearly taking in everything the established actor was saying to him. Penn’s words must have helped Cooper, given that he’s now an A-list star in his own right.
Penn is, of course, famous for his roles in movies like 1993’s crime drama “Carlito’s Way,” 2003’s neo-noir mystery drama “Mystic River,” 2008’s biographical drama “Milk,” and 2025’s black comedy action thriller “One Battle After Another” (per IMDb). He’s been nominated for the Best Actor Oscar five times, winning twice (for the aforementioned “Mystic River” and “Milk”).
In a fun twist of fate, Cooper and Penn have appeared in a movie together. Both men had supporting roles in the 2021 coming-of-age comedy drama film “Licorice Pizza.”
It’s almost like it was destined to happen.
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