Bradley Cooper opens up on replacing Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘Nightmare Alley’

Bradley Cooper recently admitted that getting offered the role in Nightmare Alley after Leonardo DiCaprio exposed  his insecurities.

During his recent interview with Mahershala Ali for Variety’s Actors on Actors, A Star is Born actor recalled replacing Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie.

He said, “Nightmare Alley was an interesting example of how insecure I am.”

“I was like, ‘Oh, I guess I still am the guy that wants to be in the group,’ because I had no intention of acting in anything other than what I’ve been writing,” Cooper explained.

“Leonardo DiCaprio fell out, and Guillermo del Toro came to me. I still remember thinking, ‘Oh wow, the guys that don’t hire me, they want to hire me?’ And then it was like, ‘Of course, I have to do it just because I’ve never been allowed into that group.’ It was insecurity and ego,” he added.

“Thankfully, it wound up being an incredible experience. And that was very interesting to me to play a character, Stanton Carlisle,” expressed the 47-year-old actor.

Calisle is shown as a person who has been traumatized as a kid and lacks parental foundation or exposure to love.

“In this movie, a lot of things happened on the day. It felt like Stanton taught Guillermo and I about where this exploration into humanity could go,” added the American Sniper.