Brad Pitt honors longtime pal Bradley Cooper with award at Santa Barbara International Film Festival – and says he knew Maestro actor would be a star after watching The Hangover
Brad Pitt presented Bradley Cooper with an award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Thursday.
The Fight Club star, 60, gushed about his old friend as he honored him with the Outstanding Performer of the Year award for his role in his ‘masterpiece’ film Maestro.
He joked that he and Cooper, 49, had a “few things in common,” including “being a movie superstar and also a name.”
At the film festival, Pitt, who was recently hit with accusations of “volatile behavior” on the set of his 1994 film Legends of the Fall, brushed off the drama as he joined his friend.
During his speech, Pitt praised Cooper and said he knew his friend would become a star not after seeing his many Oscar-nominated films, but rather when he watched his previous performance in the 2009 comedy film The Hangover.
Brad Pitt presented Bradley Cooper with an award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Thursday
The Fight Club star, 60, gushed about his old friend as he honored him with the Outstanding Performer of the Year award for his role in his ‘masterpiece’ film Maestro.
“You’ll see the more irreverent Alan (Zach Galifianakis) becomes, the more Phil (Cooper) enjoys that irreverence,” he said during his speech, according to a report from People.
“It’s subtle,” he explained. “It’s often on the side of the frame, but it’s there and it’s interesting, and I know this sounds strange, but I looked at it and I know no one else would have brought that up.
He said Cooper’s performance was “something new” and for that reason “he knew this guy would be around.”
Pitt also discussed Cooper’s directorial debut A Star Is Born, for which he wrote the screenplay and starred opposite Lady Gaga.
Because the film has been made before, Pitt said “the bar is so high,” but Cooper did “really well.”
He praised Cooper’s ability to pretend to be incoherent, drunk and broken down while carefully coordinating with the crew as they filmed certain scenes.
“To do that really well is nothing short of perfect,” he said.
Pitt also applauded Cooper for his role in the biographical romantic drama Maestro.
During his speech, Pitt praised Cooper and said he knew his friend would become a star not after seeing his many Oscar-nominated films, but rather when he watched his previous performance in the 2009 comedy film The Hangover.
The stars posed with Cooper’s Maestro co-star Carey Mulligan
The pair first met when their respective careers in Hollywood were taking off in the ’90s and ’00s. They have grown closer in recent years as their careers matured
While on stage, he joked that he and Cooper, 49, “had a few things in common,” including “being a movie superstar and also a name.”
Cooper portrayed Leonard Bernstein in the recent film, which he also directed and co-wrote, about the famous conductor and his love story with actress Felicia Montealegre.
He said he believed Cooper’s talent stems from “his voracious love for this little thing we call the human experience and all its struggles, joys and messiness.”
‘My husband is in it. He doesn’t run from any evidence, and I think that’s because of every frame he puts on screen,” he said.
Finally, he concluded his speech with a story about his friend at the upcoming Oscars, where Maestro has been nominated for seven awards.
“He has been nominated 12 times and I really hope this is his year because he is willing to do it,” he said. ‘But if it isn’t, that’s okay too. Everyone knows it’s only a matter of time.’
He also called his friend ‘the one and only Bradley’.
During his acceptance speech, Cooper talked about how film “changed his life” and “kept me alive.” Of his acting career, he said, “It’s just such a privilege.”
“I can’t believe I get to do it and I’m so privileged and so blessed,” he continued. At the end of his speech, he acknowledged and thanked the people around him who gave him the strength and love to achieve and believe in himself.
During his acceptance speech, Cooper talked about how film “changed his life” and “kept me alive.”
About his acting career, he said, “It’s just such a privilege.
“I can’t believe I get to do it and I’m so privileged and so blessed,” he continued.
At the end of his speech, he acknowledged and thanked the people around him who gave him the strength and love to achieve and believe in himself.