Regardless of his romantic status, the most important woman in Bradley Cooper‘s life is his mother, Gloria. In fact, in the May issue of Details, the Hangover 3 actor reveals the two have been living together since the January 2011 passing of his father, Charles, following a long cancer battle.
“Let’s face it: It’s probably not easy for her, by the way, to be living with her son. It’s life. And right now, two years after my father’s death, this is where we are. My family is very close, and my dad dying was brutal for all of us. It was a schism, and its aftershock has not stopped. And we need each other. So here we are,” Cooper tells the magazine. “But don’t get me wrong. It’s not without complications. It’s not like I live in a compound and she’s in the guesthouse. No. She’s in the next room. But here’s the thing: She’s a cool chick. We can hang, and she can roll with the punches. If that wasn’t the case, there’s no way.”
Cooper adds that his father’s passing made him realize his own mortality. “‘Oh, right, I’m going to die too.’ Here it is. It’s not in a book. It’s not in a movie. It’s not in a story that was told to me. It’s not driving by an accident or watching it on TV. It’s someone you love dying in front of you,” the Oscar-nominated actor says. “I was like, ‘Okay. This is death. And this is going to happen to me one day.’ There was a huge freedom that came with that.”
“I just don’t sweat the sh-t. The small stuff. My mind is just less busy now. There were so many times when I would sweat the small stuff. All through my life. High school. College. As an actor. My dad’s death allowed me to be more at ease with being myself. And if someone’s not going to like me, that’s just the way it is,” Cooper tells Details. “I used to think, ‘Oh, my God. I don’t want to make anyone not like me. I don’t want to ruffle any feathers.’ Now it’s like, ‘I’m just going to be myself and trust that. And I’m enjoying life more.”
The once-wed star also reveals that he hopes to have a family of his own one day. “I really hope I have that experience in my life,” says Cooper, who is dating 20-year-old model Suki Waterhouse. “I saw how much joy fatherhood gave my own dad. So I hope it’s part of my journey. You go through stages in your life, and fatherhood seems like a natural stage.”
