Bradley Cooper: American Sniper's appeal was its human story

BRADLEY COOPER:  I don't.  I try not to look in the mirror too much, quite honestly.  The two roles you just spoke of, both Chris Kyle and Joseph Merrick were real people who I admire greatly, so I just felt a tremendous responsibility to both of them.  I just see it as a huge opportunity and privilege.  So I just did everything I could to do right by them.

QUESTION:  Bradley, you're a producer on this film as well as an actor.  Can you talk about why you wanted Clint Eastwood to direct American Sniper?

BRADLEY COOPER:  Well, that's almost a hilarious question.  [Laughs]  Why would I want to work with Clint Eastwood?  You know, he's made maybe the best American film, Unforgiven.  He's one of the greatest directors of our time, of this century.  And the character struggle of a man, I think, that he tackles in Unforgiven with William Munny and in Letters from Iwo Jima, he's able to do in a way that other directors just aren't.  So, he was the perfect director for this movie, which is a character study, framed almost as a Western.  And Chris Kyle actually said that if he had a choice of who would direct the movie, it would be Clint Eastwood, and then he had his wish.

QUESTION:  What is the most important message that you wanted to tell with this film?

BRADLEY COOPER:  Movies for me have always been healing.  When I was a kid growing up, The Elephant Man was a movie that affected me in such a massive way that it made me want to be an actor.  It always made me feel like I wasn't so alone.  That's why I do what I do.  I love storytelling so much.  With American Sniper, we fell into a situation here where we have an opportunity to tell this man's story, who was a very charismatic, dynamic human being.  So it's going to be a story that is cinematically truthful.  There are a lot of things about this movie that make it something that you want to watch, but the takeaway will be for those who can relate to him — that maybe it'll be healing to relate to him, a vet who's gone through the similar things that Chris has gone through can maybe not feel so alone.  People who don't know anything about , what Taya has gone through, maybe can have some sort of empathy or sympathy.  When they see a vet pass them in the airport, maybe think twice.  Chris used to always talk about how you can be of service.  He was willing and able, but he quit the SEALs and was honourably discharged to take care of his family.  And the dilemma was, well, how can he still be of service?  He would always say, you know, mow a vet's lawn, or help them with their groceries, do anything, any little thing would have a massive impact.  So, if this can all help spread the story that Chris was trying to spread, then we've done our job.

QUESTION:  Can you talk about the biggest challenge that you had in preparing for your role and also how you decompressed after a highly emotional day of filming?

BRADLEY COOPER:  There was nothing to unwind every day for me because it felt like it as one long stretch.  I didn't feel much of a difference between shooting and not shooting.  First of all, you're so excited to come on the set every day because Clint Eastwood's there.  I mean, it never gets old.  It's the most exciting thing.  And we became friends with him and we would have dinner after and hang out.  So, that was amazing.  And, as a producer, I also got to live with the movie after.  There was a day that I felt like Chris left me, maybe three and a half weeks after the movie.  And that was a sad day.  But besides that, I felt like I just went through a different transition, and then, as a producer, you're watching the editing, and it was helping the director craft the movie.

QUESTION:  Can you talk about the SEAL training that you went through and then what was it like to shoot those sniper sequences?  Did everything go smoothly or did you have some issues?

BRADLEY COOPER:  Well, here's the thing about acting.  I had three months and I had to choose what to become comfortable with, and the thing we talked about choosing were the three weapons, the three sniper rifles, the Mark XI, the .338 Lapua and the .300 Win Mag, and being dexterous with those three.  Because that's what you're watching: him on the gun.  So I really focused on getting into the mindset of what it would be to be a sniper, not so much about the training of becoming a Navy SEAL, which I would have loved to have done if I had survived it.  Even going down there and training, but we had two and a half months, and I sort of supplemented that with the weight training, which, for me personally, pales in comparison to what they go through, but at least I could understand that kind of focus and sacrifice.  But it really was about Rick Wallace and Kevin Lacz, these guys training me with live ammo with those three weapons that made a massive difference.  That first time we were in Rabat, Morocco, shooting the opening scene of the movie.  It was the first time I had been up behind the scope, which wasn't in target practice.  So I'd only felt the gun with live ammo, and I saw the two actors in the scope … and my stomach turned.  I just moved the gun away.  I said, 'We can't shoot the scene with them there.'  I just couldn't do it, even though the gun wasn't loaded.  So, I had just a glimpse, a glimmer, of what a soldier has to go through.

QUESTION:  Do you think telling Chris's story with this movie is going to help people understand the Iraq war in terms of the people who went to fight there?

BRADLEY COOPER:  I don't see it all as something you have to educate yourself at all.  It's not a movie about the Iraq War; it's a movie about what someone like Chris has to go through, a soldier—the dilemma and the horror of it, and the battle internally and with the family.  That's all this movie is about.  That's all we ever talked about making it about.  It's not a political movie at all.  It's a movie about a man, a character study.  And we had the privilege of telling this man's story.  But, again, as I said earlier, the hope is that you can somehow have your eyes open to the struggle of a soldier, as opposed to the specificity of the war.

QUESTION:  Working with Clint Eastwood, what do you take with you?  What's been the most memorable moment or experience you had with him?

BRADLEY COOPER:  He'd probably hate that I'd say this, but the fact that I love him to death, and we've had so many moments and we laughed a tremendous amount in the movie, which may be shocking given the content.  But I think that's probably why he gets so many great performances out of people — because he makes them really feel at ease.  He's just so curious.  I mean, John Huston, I think, said, 'What's the thing that keeps you going?'  And it was curiosity.  He's just so curious.  He's like a little kid.  I mean, he truly is like a little kid.

QUESTION:  There's millions of veterans right now in America. Do you think the movie is the movie that America needs right now for all those millions of guys?

BRADLEY COOPER:  I think that, you know, as all of us telling the story would never have the audacity to say we know what America needs and it's this movie.  All I know is I have a need to understand all the time and when I understand things, it becomes harder for me to label them and be more general.  And all we try to do is portray a human, not an idea, but really try to be an honest portrayal of this man.  And in doing so, with the hope that someone will take, hopefully things from it that maybe they hadn't taken before.  And that's all we try to do.  We found this to be a very compelling story of this man.  And that's it.  It's really simple.  It's not didactic.  It's very simple in its purpose.

American Sniper is available now on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital through Roadshow Entertainment.