Bradley Cooper, two-time winner of Best Use of Bronzer in a Motion Picture, sat down with Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes on their SmartLess podcast to talk about Hollywood not not being taken seriously, per IndieWire. The nine-time Oscar nominee gossiped about a Star Is Born–era encounter at an Oscars party thrown by agency CAA. (Cooper was up for three statues that cycle — bringing his lifetime total to seven nominations.) According to Cooper, trouble began when a famous director, in reference to one of Cooper’s actress friends with three Oscar nods under her belt, asked the Star Is Born actor a completely reasonable question: “What world are we living in where you have seven nominations and she’s only got three?’”
It’s a fair question! Cooper had already been recognized for his work in the mid film Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle (at times a snoozefest), propaganda vehicle American Sniper, and the best version of A Star Is Born. (He was later nominated for Joker and Nightmare Alley, two cinematic marvels.) So yeah, we are living in a world in which, in 2019, Cooper had more nominations than three-time nominees Laura Linney, Michelle Pfeiffer, Marisa Tomei, and Penelope Cruz. In response to the slight, Cooper reportedly thought, “Bro, why are you such an asshole? I would never fucking forget that. Go fuck yourself,” instead of taking the time to look back on why someone would say such brutally honest words.
Cooper had another awards-related grievance to air on the podcast: just how much the word nom (as in nominee) haunts him. In Cooper’s telling, a “hero female actress” went to congratulate him for his nomination for Best Actor in Silver Linings Playbook (up against Daniel Day-Lewis, Hugh Jackman, Joaquin Phoenix, and Denzel Washington):
She’s like, ‘I saw your movie. You deserve the nom,’ … I was like, ‘What? I’m sorry, what?’ ‘The nom.’ Then like ten or 20 minutes later — I’m not kidding — I passed her going to the bathroom, and she mouths it: ‘The nom.’ … What the fuck is this town? Can you imagine saying that to somebody? You’ve got to be fucked up to do that.
These are a lot of emotions for someone who thinks awards season is “utterly meaningless.” Stop worrying, Cooper. Little abbreviations can’t hurt you.
This post has been updated.