He was recently voted the sexiest man alive, but Bradley Cooper's endearing traits don't stop there – he's fluent in French, takes his mum to premieres, and has paid his dues on the way to leading man status. The success of The Hangover films – as well as a high-profile two-year romance with Renee Zelleweger – have catapulted the 36-year-old from supporting roles to stellar star power. Besides the killer combination of his boy-next-door acting style and boundless sex appeal, fans are also drawn to his humility and appreciation of his good fortune. He's not the type of person to forget his time at the prestigious Actors Studio Drama School, where archive footage showed as an unknown student tentatively interviewing his idol Robert De Niro from the audience.
Fast forward a few years and that star-struck wannabe from Philadelphia was starring in the lead role opposite the man himself in Limitless.The flip has galvanised other hopefuls, and serves as a reminder to Bradley of how far he's come – and how much he has to be thankful for. Nowadays, everyone wants to know who his leading lady is, but the actor is content living with his mum in LA. He invited her to move in with him after the death of his father. The heart-throb was briefly married to Blue Bloods actress, Jennifer Esposito, but the couple divorced after just a few months.
"It just wasn't right. It's interesting...things happen," he said of the separation. He has been single since splitting with Bridget Jones star Renee, but has been linked to Olivia Wilde and Jennifer Lopez – who was spotted hiding her face in the passenger seat of his car shortly after her separation from Marc Anthony.
In the face of the hype surrounding him, Bradley remains that same, ambitious student at heart. "Since Limitless opened, my agent calls me every morning and asks, 'Do you feel any different?' And I'm like, "Nope. Do you feel any different?" he said. And while others are full of enthusiasm about his looks and celebrity, he has his sights firmly on building a career in the longterm, saying: "Being in US Weekly does NOT make you famous" "(Director) Paul Thomas Anderson does not read US Weekly and go, "Hey, I want this guy in my next film!"