Bradley Cooper Struggled To 'Really Love' His Daughter

Bradley Cooper is admitting that when his daughter was born, he was not sure how he felt about her. The actor explained that before he and ex Irina Shayk welcomed their child in 2017, he had a difficult time understanding why parents would say "I would die in a second for my kid," adding, "If I'm being honest, the first eight months I don’t even know if I really love the kid."

Speaking on the "Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard" podcast about the first months of his daughter Lea's life, Cooper said, "It’s dope. It’s cool. I’m watching this thing morph. Fascinated by it. Love taking care of it. Would I die if someone came in with a gun?"

He said it was "all of a sudden" that his feelings and perspective shifted, and then it was "like, no question." "I’m not sure I’d be alive if I wasn’t a dad," Cooper, who has previously been open about his battle with addiction, said. "I just needed someone to say, ‘We're gonna drop this massive anchor,' and I'm like, ‘Why? We're speeding. We just got an upgrade on the boat and I know where the wind is coming in.' And they're like, ‘No, there's a tsunami coming and you need an anchor and we're gonna drop it.' This is going to dictate everything you do from now on."

He added, "Your DNA is going to tell you that there’s something more important than you." Currently, Cooper is focused on providing the best life he can for Lea. "I want her to have as much foundation as she can," the "Hangover" star said. "I think about how my relationship with my daughter impacts her growth and the journey she's gonna be on."

The star also spoke about his habit of being naked at home. Host Dax Shepard said that his father was "always nude," so it is something he is used to. Shepard revealed he and wife, Kristin Bell, are "naked all the time" in their own home. Cooper admitted that he rarely saw his father naked, which is a different approach to the open bathroom door policy he runs in his own home.

"I didn't grow up that way. At all. I don't think I ever saw my father on the toilet until he got sick. Like, ever in my life," Cooper said. He got used to being in the nude after living in smaller spaces in New York City. "The bathtub and toilet and bed are all in the same room," he said. "The stairs go up and it's all one floor."

"That person’s seen me cry — I’m not exaggerating — probably 150 times in the last year," Cooper shared. Although he was very vague about who the "person" is, Cooper, 49, has been seen publicly spending time with model Gigi Hadid, 28, since October. 

Fox News