Bradley Cooper is heading into what could be the best summer of his life. On June 5, the man heretofore known as the jerky boyfriend in 'Wedding Crashers' hits theaters in the R-rated Vegas bachelor party comedy 'The Hangover' -- a film with so much good buzz that a sequel's already in the works.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg for the 34-year-old actor: He's also rumored to be the top contender to play the titular superhero in 'The Green Lantern' (though in response to this possibility he simply says, "I don't know") and the notoriously good-looking "Face" in the upcoming 'A-Team' movie.

In an exclusive interview, Cooper dishes on going blow-for-comedy-blow with Mike Tyson, flirting with Julia Roberts on a plane ... and having a naked man's junk shoved in his face. Bradley Cooper is heading into what could be the best summer of his life. On June 5, the man heretofore known as the jerky boyfriend in 'Wedding Crashers' hits theaters in the R-rated Vegas bachelor party comedy 'The Hangover' -- a film with so much good buzz that a sequel's already in the works.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg for the 34-year-old actor: He's also rumored to be the top contender to play the titular superhero in 'The Green Lantern' (though in response to this possibility he simply says, "I don't know") and the notoriously good-looking "Face" in the upcoming 'A-Team' movie.

In an exclusive interview, Cooper dishes on going blow-for-comedy-blow with Mike Tyson, flirting with Julia Roberts on a plane ... and having a naked man's junk shoved in his face. -- By Tom DiChiara

Bradley Cooper Photos

    UNIVERSAL CITY, CA - MAY 31: Actor Bradley Cooper arrives at the 18th Annual MTV Movie Awards held at the Gibson Amphitheatre on May 31, 2009 in Universal City, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Bradley Cooper

    Getty Images

    UNIVERSAL CITY, CA - MAY 31: Actor Bradley Cooper arrives at the 18th Annual MTV Movie Awards held at the Gibson Amphitheatre on May 31, 2009 in Universal City, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Bradley Cooper

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    Bradley Cooper visits MuchOnDemand at the MuchMusic HQ on May 26, 2009 in Toronto, Canada. Bradley Cooper Visitis MuchOnDemand MuchMusic HQ Toronto, ON Canada May 26, 2009 Photo by George Pimentel/WireImage.com To license this image (57538632), contact WireImage.com

    George Pimentel/WireImage.com

    Actor Bradley Cooper, a cast member in the upcoming film "The Hangover," poses for a portrait, Saturday, May 16, 2009 in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)

    AP

    Actor Bradley Cooper, a cast member in the upcoming film "The Hangover," poses for a portrait, Saturday, May 16, 2009 in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)

    AP

    Actors Bradley Cooper, left, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms, cast members in the upcoming film "The Hangover," pose for a portrait, Saturday, May 16, 2009 in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)

    AP

    Actors Bradley Cooper, left, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms, cast members in the upcoming film "The Hangover," pose for a portrait, Saturday, May 16, 2009 in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)

    AP

    LAS VEGAS - MAY 15: Actor Bradley Cooper participates in a charity poker tournament at Caesars Palace hosted by Warner Bros. Pictures featuring cast members from the film "The Hangover" to benefit Opportunity Village May 15, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Caesars Palace served as the location for many scenes of the comedy, which opens nationwide in the United States on June 5. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Bradley Cooper

    Getty Images

    LAS VEGAS - MAY 15: Actor Bradley Cooper participates in a charity poker tournament at Caesars Palace hosted by Warner Bros. Pictures featuring cast members from the film "The Hangover" to benefit Opportunity Village May 15, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Caesars Palace served as the location for many scenes of the comedy, which opens nationwide in the United States on June 5. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Bradley Cooper

    Getty Images

    LAS VEGAS - MAY 15: Actor Bradley Cooper participates in a charity poker tournament at Caesars Palace hosted by Warner Bros. Pictures featuring cast members from the film "The Hangover" to benefit Opportunity Village May 15, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Caesars Palace served as the location for many scenes of the comedy, which opens nationwide in the United States on June 5. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Bradley Cooper

    Getty Images



Filming this movie must have been rough, what with hitting the Vegas casinos and clubs and your characters staying in the 'Rain Man' suite. What was your favorite part of the shoot?
The movie as a whole was just an awesome experience. It was like we did a war movie almost [laughs]. Because we lived in Vegas in Caesar's Palace and played these guys who got the s*** kicked out of ourselves. To be able to do that with Todd Phillips and Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms, it was just amazing.

You had to do some pretty out there stuff -- fighting with a naked dude, pretend humping a tiger, etc. Were there any scenes that were particularly awkward to shoot?
I think it was awkward more for the crew to watch a naked Asian man's testicles dangle in front of my neck 40 or 50 times [laughs]. But for some reason I didn't realize how sort of ridiculous it all was. I know Ken [Jeong, the owner of the Asian testicles]. He's a really good friend of mine. We did a movie called 'All About Steve' together, so it was his idea to be naked, and as he was pitching that to Todd, and it was like, "Whooooa. Okaaaay." And then I didn't even have a second thought about it. It wound up really making that scene. I think it's one of the funniest scenes in the movie, actually.



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During the tiger scenes, did you ever feel like you were in danger?
Luckily, we didn't have to do anything outrageous to it at all, other than it living in an unnatural environment with humans and being on a leash. So whatever its aggravated state was normally, we had to live with. But, you know, you never get used to it. It's a tiger.

When you weren't filming, did you and the guys take advantage of the debauchery that was conveniently right at your fingertips?
You know, all the craziest stuff we did in Vegas while we were filming the movie is going to be in theaters on June 5. That's where the craziness happened. It's hard to come from a day's work when you've been running around with a baby that you don't know who it belongs to, in a cop car driving on a sidewalk with a tiger -- and then top that. You know, what are you going to do: go and get drunk in a strip club? That's pretty lame compared to what we had to shoot that day [laughs].

What's Mike Tyson like in person? Did you get to hang out with him off-camera?
We did actually. Shooting this movie was long hours with a lot of waiting around and setting up lights, so you're spending 16-17 hour days with the people you act with. So I did get to know him a little bit, as much as you get to know people working with them -- and I can't say enough about that guy. He was fantastic. It's hard to go into a movie, jump into a comedy especially like this one, and work three days and sort of immerse yourself and leave your mark -- and he certainly did that. I don't think singing is his strongest suit, but it doesn't really matter [laughs].

Have you ever been to a bachelor party that rivaled the stuff that happened in this movie?
No, I've never even been to one that one would define as "raucous." The only bachelor party that I've ever been to was in Palm Springs with five guys playing golf.

There's already a 'Hangover' sequel being prepped. Any idea what the plot is going to be? And will you all be back?
I've heard that, too, but there's nothing set. We'll just focus on this movie first and see how it does. But I would certainly do eight more 'Hangovers' because it's very rare that you get to work with people that you love and in a project that you just love. Magic sort of happened on set with this movie, and I would love to do it again.

It was just announced that you're playing a gay man dating a closeted pro football player in the romantic comedy 'Valentine's Day.' What got you interested in the part?
You know, I have a really small role. It's like two days I'm doing on that movie, and it was really just the opportunity to play it with Julia Roberts. I did a play with her about three years ago. And I thought it would be great -- it's a really sort of sweet relationship between these two people on a plane. So it's a quick little thing I'm going to do and be able to work with her on film. I'm excited for that. In terms of the fact that that's the character kind of gives away the -- I don't know why they were able to release that because it kind of ruins the story a little bit. We don't know that he's gay. At least you're not supposed to -- the way I read it. I guess they don't care [laughs].

Summer 2009 Comedies
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