Bradley Cooper has recalled an “insane” moment when he was held up at knifepoint during a school run.
The actor was collecting his daughter in New York just before the pandemic when the incident happened.
“I used to walk around New York City all the time with these [headphones] on – this was pre-pandemic – I was on the subway [at] 11:45 to pick Lea downtown at Russian school and I got held up at knifepoint,” Cooper said on Dax Shepherd’s Armchair Expert podcast.
He continued: “It was pretty insane. I realised I had gotten way, way too comfortable in the city. My guard was down … I was all the way at the end of the subway.”
Cooper went on to say that he sensed someone coming up to him, and assumed that they were a fan seeking a photo with him, until they pulled out a knife. “I turned, I’m up against the post like it’s the French Connection or some shit,” he said.
The actor described his attacker as very young. He managed to escape by jumping over a nearby turnstile and hiding. The young man ran away, though not before Cooper managed to take several photographs of him on his phone, which he showed to nearby police.
“Then I got back on the subway and picked up my daughter,” he said.
Among Cooper’s upcoming releases is Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza. The film’s soundtrack was released this month, and includes a new original track from composer Jonny Greenwood.
It also features ‘Life On Mars?’ by David Bowie, ‘Let Me Roll It’ by Paul McCartney and Wings, ‘Peace Frog’ by The Doors, and ‘If You Could Read My Mind’ by Gordon Lightfoot.