Bradley Cooper has enjoyed an interesting career, proving he could play a variety of characters, each with interesting character arcs. He started out his movie career with roles mostly portraying an arrogant party guy before moving on to earn Academy Award recognition in his movies, including a repeat trip to the Oscars in 2022 for his supporting role in Licorice Pizza.
He proved his versatility in ensemble comedies like The Hangover, where he was only one part of the story, and he was one of the only characters in the horror movie Midnight Meat Train, where his character faced a journey that led him to damnation. Over his career, Cooper has mastered leading fans through great character arcs, morphing into an almost completely different person by the end of the movie.
Phil Wenneck In The Hangover (2009-2013)
- Now streaming on HBO Max.
The first Hangover movie broke the box office record of Beverly Hills Cop as the highest-grossing R-rated comedy (via Forbes). The movie followed four friends, who went to Las Vegas for a Bachelor Party, only for the groom to disappear.
Cooper was Phil, the loud-mouthed leader of the Wolf Pack. By the end, he was mostly still someone who liked to have fun with his friends but was also the only one who was a family man before the first movie, but he also grew emotionally as much as his friends in the end.
Neil Walker In Joy (2015)
- Now streaming on FX Now and DirecTV.
David O. Russell re-teamed up Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper after their award-nominated Silver Linings Playbook. This time, the movie wasn't about the two actors equally and Cooper had to take on a supporting role, as Joy was about Joy Mangano achieving her dreams as a successful businesswoman in an industry that is particularly dominated by men.
Cooper played Neil Walker, an executive at the QVC home shopping network. He was instrumental in helping Joy get on TV to sell her products, and by the end, he was a competitor with her after she moved to HSN, but remained one of her biggest supporters.
Ben In He's Just Not That Into You (2009)
- Currently streaming on HBO Max.
Based on the self-help book of the same name, He's Just Not That Into You is an ensemble movie with nine people having varying romantic problems. Bradley Cooper stars as Ben, a married man whose eyes start wandering when he meets a beautiful aspiring singer.
When the movie starts, Ben is married to Janine, but when he meets a singer named Anna, he starts an affair. He claimed his wife made him marry her or end their relationship. In the end, Anna left him when she had to hide when his wife showed up, and then Janine left him when she learned he lied to her about quitting smoking. In the end, he had nothing, alone and drinking beer (which audiences agree was what he deserved).
Richie DiMaso In American Hustle (2013)
- Currently streaming on Starz and Tubi.
Directed by David O. Russell, American Hustle was a movie inspired by the FBI Abscam operation where an FBI agent forced two con artists to set up a sting on corrupt politicians. Bradley Cooper played the FBI agent, Richie DiMaso.
When the movie starts, Richie busts the con artists and forces them to help him. Through the movie, he ends up not only conned but a disgrace who overthought his own intelligence. While he started out thinking he was untouchable, by the end, he lost his entire career.
Rocket In Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014-2022)
- Streaming now on Disney+.
James Gunn has said that the third Guardians of the Galaxy movie will center on Rocket and he will remain the heart and soul of this Marvel space-traveling team. If that plays out as it sounds, Rocket could become even bigger in his character arc.
As it is, Rocket was already a highly developed character. He opened the first movie as a scavenger who got by the best that he could, with only Groot as his friend. By the end of the second movie, Rocket was willing to sacrifice to save his new family, and he had become more complex and interesting every step of the way.
Eddie Morra In Limitless (2011)
- Streaming now on Spectrum on Demand.
Limitless was a movie that was on the lesser end of Bradly Cooper's starring efforts. The movie is a basic sci-fi thriller that stars Cooper as Edward Morra, a struggling writer who learns about a drug that allows him to use his brain to the fullest of its extent.
Edward is a character that undergoes an entire transformation thanks to the enhancer. He goes from having a grungy personality to a suave and sophisticated character, and his attitude changes along the way, showing the range that Cooper possesses as an actor.
Leon Kaufman In The Midnight Meat Train (2008)
- Streaming now on Vudu Free, Tubi, PlutoTV, Redbox and Hoopla.
The Midnight Meat Train was an overlooked and underrated urban horror movie. Directed by Japanese director Ryuhei Kitamura in his Hollywood debut, the movie was buried at release, only sent out to budget theaters across the country. Based on the story by Clive Barker, the movie was about a serial killer, known as the Subway Butcher.
While Vinnie Jones was frightening as the killer, it was Bradley Cooper as Leon, a New York City photographer, that carried the story. He wanted to take more risks to finally get his big break and went into the New York underground to take dark photos. By the time the movie ended, he was broken and the new replacement for the Subway Butcher, serving an even darker force.
Pat Solitano, Jr. In Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
- Streaming now on Netflix.
David O. Russell's first movie with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence was Silver Linings Playbook and it was a massive success, picking up Oscar nominations for both leads. Cooper played Pat, a man who spent eight months in a mental health facility receiving treatment for bipolar disorder.
When he left, he met a woman named Tiffany, a widow who is taking medications to deal with an unnamed disorder. Together, the two connect and realize that they can work through their problems and start to come out of the darkness and find a new future together.
Jackson Maine In A Star Is Born (2018)
- Available to rent now on Apple TV and Prime Video.
Bradley Cooper starred with Lady Gaga in the 2018 remake of A Star is Born. In the movie, Cooper was Jack, a popular country-rock singer who privately battles addiction issues. When he meets a waitress and aspiring singer named Ally, he helps her become a star.
This is an old story, remade many times, and it shows the rise of Ally as a popular pop music star, and the collapse of Jack's popularity and career. This movie is a tragedy, with Jack going from one of the top singers in the world to a shell of himself by the end.
Stan Carlisle In Nightmare Alley (2021)
- Streaming now on Hulu and HBO Max.
In 2021, Bradley Cooper starred in the Oscar-nominated Guillermo del Toro movie Nightmare Alley. In the movie, he played Stan Carlisle, a drifter who underwent a character arc that took him to the highest of highs and then slammed him back to depths lower than he ever experienced.
At the start of the movie, he was a drifter hiding a secret. He ended up getting work at a carnival, where they took him in and he learned about how the group gained their cast for their geek show. He then learned how to con people as a mentalist and ended up as an elite performer in Buffalo. However, his aspirations were too high, and by the end, he was back at a carnival, preparing for his new life in the geek show.