Bradley Cooper
The death of his father affects the upbringing of his daughter Lea
© MARK RALSTON/AFP / Getty Images
Bradley Cooper is the proud father of a daughter. Rarely openly, he now tells how the death of his own father positively influenced his upbringing of the little girl.
Bradley Cooper’s father died in his arms
In a new episode of the TV show Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge, the Hollywood star tells survival star Bear Grylls, 49, about the life-changing event. “I wish my dad was still around to enjoy more of this, but we all know how lucky we were,” Cooper said in a clip pre-shared with People. “It was a blessing,” continued the 48-year-old. “He gave me a great gift, he died in my arms. To see such a real example of mortality.”
When Grylls asked if that changed his perspective, the ‘A Star is Born’ actor honestly replies, “Oh yes. For the worse in some ways.” He elaborates, “I definitely had a nihilistic attitude after that, for a little while. I was just like, ‘Wow, I’m going to die.'”
“You learn from the mistakes of your predecessor”
But then Cooper came to a realization. “It wasn’t great for a while, until I realized that I just had to accept who I am and try to make peace with it. Then it kind of evened out,” recalls the American key moment.
“And how do you deal with being a father now?” Bear Grylls wants to know from his talk guest. “You’ve been through this whole journey with your dad and now you’re a dad,” he notes. “I mean, you learn from the mistakes of your predecessor, and I’m going to do a lot of that, which I hope Lea will learn from, and then be tough on myself to grow,” Cooper said. “To help her unburden her of all my crap.”
Bradley Cooper’s daughter Lea De Seine is now six years old. She comes from his relationship with Irina Shayk, 37. The model and the actor had been in a relationship since 2015, two years later their child saw the light of day before their relationship broke up in 2019.
Sources used: people.com, nytimes.com