Bradley Cooper has been sober for 19 years – but he recently admitted that he's "not sure" he'd still be alive if he hadn't become a father.
The 49-year-old credits his six-year-old daughter Lea, whom he shares with his ex-girlfriend, Irina Shayk, for helping him to prioritize his health after he realized he needed to slow down following her arrival in 2017.
"Honestly I'm not sure I'd be alive if I wasn't a dad," he said on the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard podcast on Monday.
"I don't know what would have happened. I am not sure."
He continued: "I just needed someone to say, like, 'We're gonna drop this massive anchor'. I'm like, 'Why? We're speeding! I just got an upgrade on the boat, and I know where the wind's coming in.'
"They're like, 'No, no, no, there's a tsunami coming in, and you need an anchor and we're gonna drop it. Because this is gonna dictate everything you do from now on. Your DNA is going to tell you that there's something more important than you.'"
The Maestro actor – who has been open about his addiction struggles – admitted that fatherhood made him want to become the best version of himself to avoid mentally damaging his daughter.
He explained: "I'm a father [seeking to do] the least amount of damage I can do to my daughter. To have a child not grow up in that way … I want her to have, as much as she can, a foundation that's like 25 feet thick, cement, that she can walk on this earth with. That's the goal."
He added: "I can just feel the safety that she feels. It's so tangible; it's palpable. That is so fulfilling."
Despite the close bond he shares with Lea now, Bradley confessed that it wasn't until a few months after her birth, that he felt a strong, fatherly connection.
"[For the first couple of months I thought] 'I don't even know if I really love the kid. It's dope. It's cool. I'm watching this thing morph'... [But] all of a sudden, it's like no question," he said.
The Hollywood star hasn't been shy about discussing his love for his daughter over the years.
In 2018, he opened up about fatherhood, telling NPR: "Having a child and having a family of my own — which is a miracle and something I've always dreamt of — has opened me up even more to the day, and to be present. I just always want [Lea] to feel loved."
The year after, he told Oprah Winfrey that his daughter often reminds him of his late father, Charles. "Our daughter, she's incredible. And I see my father in her quite often," he said.
"I can't believe I'm going to admit this, but I had moments when I was in the room with her, I would say, 'Dad?' There are some moments where she looks just like my father. I watch too many movies."
Despite Bradley and Irina calling time on their relationship in 2019, they have maintained an amicable relationship whilst co-parenting their only daughter.
The former couple were first linked in 2015 before going public in 2016. A year later, they welcomed their daughter Lea De Seine, before then announcing their split.
Bradley is now dating model Gigi Hadid, while Irina was recently linked to Tom Brady.
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