Bradley Cooper Explains How Fatherhood May Have Saved His Life

Bradley Cooper has worn many hats throughout his career, and in 2017, he got a new permanent title: dad. Cooper has been co-parenting his daughter Lea de Seine with model Irina Shayk, and in a recent appearance on the Armchair Expert podcast, Cooper opened up about how much fatherhood has changed him.

"Honestly, I'm not sure I'd be alive if I wasn't a dad. I don't know what would have happened. I am not sure," the Maestro star said honestly. Before he became a father, he couldn't imagine what it would be like or why he would need to become a dad specifically.

"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 going to 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,'" he explained.

Related: Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper Among 2024 Oscar Nominees With Highest Net Worths

When he became a dad, Cooper vowed to give his daughter the healthiest environment to grow up in.

"I'm a father [seeking to do] the least amount of damage I can do to my daughter," he said. "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."

"I can just feel the safety that she feels," he added. "It's so tangible; it's palpable. That is so fulfilling."

Cooper is up for Best Actor at the Academy Awards on March 10. Lea de Seine Shayk Cooper celebrates her sixth birthday on March 21.