Since “Wedding Crashers” allowed Bradley Cooper to break out of his leading man mold, he’s built up his reputation for versatility in a wide variety of roles. Instead of solely attaching himself to R-rated successes such as “The Hangover” franchise and “Failure to Launch,” he wound up scoring hits in the dramedy “Silver Linings Playbook” and the action-comedy big-screen translation of “The A-Team.”
Ever since, he has balanced mainstream fare — such as voicing Rocket Raccoon in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” series of films — with independent or more serious works, such as “A Star is Born,” “The Place Beyond The Pines,” “American Hustle” and “Licorice Pizza.” It’s a balancing act that has won Cooper a total of 12 Oscar nominations for both his acting and his producing credits — a stack of nods that thus far hasn’t borne any fruit yet. Fans will see if his luck changes and his work and unrecognizable look as Leonard Bernstein in “Maestro” will reverse his luck when the 96th Academy Awards ceremony takes place on March 10, 2024.
