Bradley Cooper: five best moments

It isn’t always easy to make the jump from uproarious satire to brow-furrowing Oscar material – but try telling that to Bradley Cooper. He went from a gloriously camp debut in cult comedy Wet Hot American Summer to picking up a third Academy award nod yesterday for his lead role in American Sniper, Clint Eastwood’s factually dubious account of US Navy Seal Chris Kyle, a sharp-shooter who was given 160 confirmed kills over four tours in Iraq.

With American Sniper coming out this weekend in the UK, on 22 January in Australia and already showing in US cinemas, we’re looking back at Cooper’s best performances. Though he is still relatively early on in his film career, it holds some gems. Let us know which roles you would add, in the comments section.

Silver Linings Playbook

The romcom for people who don’t like romcoms, Silver Linings Playbook, ​ featured Cooper’s first role for​ director David O Russell​. He played Pat Solatano, Jr, a former teacher with bipolar disorder and a propensity for white-hot outbursts of rage, ​who, in between trying to win​ back his estranged wife’s affections, falls​ for Jennifer Lawrence’s Tiffany Maxwell. For his depiction of a man battling a tangled clutch of neuroses, Cooper ​bagged best actor nominations at the Oscars, B​aftas and Golden Globes, plus a few critics’ choice awards.

American Hustle

We all secretly wanted to see Cooper with perm-like curls, didn’t we? His turn as FBI agent Richie DiMaso, slick with sleaze and puffed-up with a ballooning ego, added a manic energy to American Hustle’s slippery ensemble cast of tricksters. He earned a best supporting actor Oscar nomination and B​afta and Golden Globe nominations for his ​performance, and the film won best ensemble gongs from the Screen Actors Guild and several critics’ societies.

Wet Hot American Summer

Though not a critics’ favourite, this fantastic 2001 David Wain comedy has gone on to earn cult status – and is often given credit for launching the careers of both Cooper and Parks and Recreation’s Amy Poehler. In the summer-camp romp, Cooper played Ben, secretly gay sidekick to Poehler’s Susie, with a measured dryness and simmering intensity. An intensity about staging the perfect talent show, mind.

The Place Beyond the Pines

Cooper ditched the sexy-guy swagger (see: Wedding Crashers, Limitless) for his portrayal of clean-cut cop Avery Cross in Derek Cianfrance’s sprawling generational tale of masculinity, heredity and pride. Cross battles demons related to his personal guilt and the corruption rampant in his police force, and Cooper put in a performance that stood up alongside his co-stars Ray Liotta and Ryan Gosling.

The Hangover

Though its sequels proved largely uninspired, the first film in the Hangover trilogy actually made people laugh. Todd Phillips’ dudebro comedy about a stag party retracing a blackout night of partying in Vegas in order to find a missing groom on his wedding day, aimed squarely for silliness. Amid gags revolving around a hotel bathroom tiger and unclaimed baby, Cooper played teacher Phil Wenneck, the alpha male trying to keep a cool head throughout the unfolding chaos.