Brad the Dad

Formerly the archetypal eligible bachelor, actor Bradley Cooper has eased into the fatherhood role effortlessly, says Simone Lee

As an actor, Bradley Cooper has made a substantial career out of comedy, drama and action-hero genres, yet it has always appeared to be at the expense of a personal life that had ebbed and flowed between various stages of fulfillment and frustration.

When you add in the fact the 44-year-old Pennsylvanian, in so many of his film roles, has played the conflicted, confused and, at times, tortured anti-hero, the whole set-up is perfectly at odds with the reallife version of the bustling, brimming, charismatic actor… until now. Or rather, until Cooper met Russian model Irina Shayk in 2015.

At the time, the actor was still getting over his split from British model Suki Waterhouse, but he and footballer Ronaldo’s ex-girlfriend hit it off instantly. Within seven months, the pair were expecting their first child, and in March 2017 little Lea arrived.

As an A-lister who, for so long, played against the conventional rules of marriage and kids, Cooper’s transition into doting dad has been dramatic and beautiful to watch.

His late father's passion for cinema was what first introduced Bradley to the idea of becoming an actor

“Firstly, if I gave the impression I wasn’t trying to settle down and be a dad, I apologise,” he laughs, kicking off with a typically fresh flourish of humour and humility.

“In a sense, I’m glad it took me a while to get to the point I’m at now. I mean, I wanted and yearned to have this for so many years, but you know when the person and the time is right, and this is it.”

Their beautiful baby – full name Lea De Seine Shayk Cooper – will certainly have a perfectly calm yet ambitious upbringing, not so different to that of her dad. Cooper credits his late father for giving him the passion, drive and encouragement to become an actor, and you feel there is a real sense of him wanting to pass on those ideals.

“Of course I want Lea to succeed in whatever she chooses to pursue, but as much as you want to push your child, you also want them to make their own decisions. Even the youngest childdeserves the respect of a parent and that starts at not forcing them to do anything they don’t want to; and in the movie world I’ve seen things that have made me wonder if it’s really the youngster or the parent who wants to perform. “Outside of acting, I’ve started imagining what I want to bring to Lea and how I can help shape her life,” he continues. “I think cooking and spending time in the kitchen will be a big part of that – that’ll be a special thing to be able to do together and it really excites me.

“I like to cook every day and I get so much pleasure from it. I grew up with a great appreciation of cooking. There’s so much joy for me that comes with looking at the ingredients, preparing a dish and plating the food. It’s something extraordinarily beautiful for me… it all led me to my first job, cleaning tables at a Greek restaurant in Philadelphia when I was just 15.

“My mother made this incredible roast beef and my grandmother would prepare delicious ravioli the most stunning cheesecake. Those were the kinds of dishes that inspired my love of cooking but that whole feeling of family too, and I want to give that to Lea.”

With their daughter having now celebrated her second birthday, the couple are firmly moving into the next phase of parenthood, with nursery and pre-school on the horizon. It probably helps that, as parents, they come from slightly different emotional perspectives – Bradley admits to being blown away by how much starting a family changes life, while Irina has been positively outspoken that she has felt the need to retain a sense of self whilst still dedicating her time to Lea. And certainly, both subscribe to the traditional values of family, and can rely on fantastic support networks.

“I think you always want to emulate all the good things from your upbringing,” says Cooper. “Mine was incredibly happy – I was the youngest and of course the most spoiled of all the kids. There are a lot of advantages to being the youngest and smallest – you can get away with a lot of stuff.

“My parents would focus most of their attention and disciplinary tactics on keeping my sister in line while they allowed me to do pretty much what I wanted!” he laughs.

“But there were so many positive influences – we lived right across from a movie theatre in Philadelphia and my father was a true cinephile. He turned me on to all those 1970s auteur movies. I remember seeing The Elephant Man when I was like, 12, and Apocalypse Now, Network and The Deer Hunter. I loved those movies so much, and living next to a movie theatre was utopia.

“But that was about all we had – that and our imaginations. In fact I would sort of live in the fantasy of whatever the feeling was after the last movie I’d seen.

“I owe it to my parents who taught me not to be superficial. It was a childhood built on simple things, and that’s how I want it to be with Lea.”