A Star Is Brought to Tears! Bradley Cooper was overcome with emotion as close friend Brad Pitt gave a moving five-minute speech as he presented him with an honor at the 39th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
The actor – who recently went public with girlfriend Gigi Hadid – was joined by his Maestro costar Carey Mulligan on Thursday as he walked the red carpet ahead of a retrospective that spanned his 25 year career from Sex and the City to his recent Oscar nomination.
Carey, who wore a sleek black suit with plunging neckline, walked the red carpet with Bradley, and later appeared on stage to give a speech about what he had taught her as an actor, including joking that he had shown her the benefit of "not giving a flying [expletive]" about what others thought. Her words left Bradley welling up with tears, but it was Brad's speech that tipped the 49-year-old over.
"Maestro is a master work," Brad said, before sharing his favorite scenes and adding: "I watched this scene, and what is masterful about the scene is that it sets the tone for the entire film, it gives us the cadence, but second, it's the construction.
"It was alive, it's kinetic and so natural and this is really difficult to achieve...Not since [Robert] Redford have I seen anyone do it so well."
Bradley was clearly choked up over the remarks, and the audience couldn't help but cheer for him.
"I won't say for certain what is at the heart of Bradley's brilliance," Brad continued, before joking: "But I will take a stab at it."
"What I think it is, and knowing him for a few years now, it is his verve and voracious love for this little thing we call the human experience... my man is in it, he doesn't run from any of it," Brad proudly shared.
But Brad also couldn't help but get a little dig in about Bradley's love for the Philadelphia Eagles; Bradley has been nominated for an Oscar 12 times but had never won, and the Thelma & Louise star quipped: "Truly, he's fine, he's used to it... He's a Philadelphia Eagles fan."
As the audience roared with laughter, Bradley shouted out, "that's [expletive] up!" as Brad hooted: "Go Chiefs!" The Kansas City Chiefs have made it to the Super Bowl for the fourth time; they won in 2023.
"It is such a privilege, and I can't believe I get to do it," Bradley later said of his career as an actor and director.
"But even with that, living is hard, and it feels like it gets harder, and I need people who love me and who I love, and without them I would be walking in a wasteland, and sometimes it is hard to keep going but when you feel love and authenticity it gives us strength," he continued.
"And I know that without community I would never attempt to achieve the things I have attempted, without the people who have believed in me, in ways I never believed in myself... so gosh, if you feel that way about anybody, please tell them because you never know what is possible."
Bradley received the Outstanding Performer of the Year Award at the 39th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The actor is Oscar-nominated – he has received 12 nominations throughout his career – for his role in Maestro, which he also wrote and produced; it was his second directorial project, after 2018's A Star Is Born, which he co-wrote, produced, starred and directed.
"Nine-time Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper has proven to be an actor of incredible range and versatility. What has impressed me the most is that he has grown to be one of the most indelible directing voices . He’s a renaissance man - an outstanding performer indeed!” noted SBIFF’s Executive Director Roger Durling.