Spilling the tea! Jamie Chung remembered an uncomfortable gym incident with Bradley Cooper and his then-girlfriend, Renée Zellweger, while filming The Hangover Part II.
“We were in Thailand and he was dating Renée Zellweger and I’m so awkward and uncomfortable,” Chung, 38, exclusively told Us Weekly during a recent game of “Costar Secrets,” reflecting on what it was like working with Cooper, 47. “I’m so awkward on set. I don’t know why. I guess people make me nervous and I’m always like, ‘Oh, will they like me?’ It’s terrible.”
The California native, who played Lauren in the 2011 film, pointed to one particular moment in the gym when she crashed and burned while trying to speak to Zellweger, 52 — and Cooper saw it all go down.
“I was like, ‘Hey, hi,’ you know, trying to make small talk. And Renee had these, like, sound-canceling earphones on and didn’t hear me,” Chung said. “And I was, like, felt so [deflated]. And Bradley — I remember — just looks over and he saw the whole thing.”
The Lovecraft Country alum added that the A Star Is Born actor just shrugged his shoulders in response as she “stumbled out of the gym.”
While Chung remembered being embarrassed in Thailand with Cooper — who split from Zellweger in March 2011 after less than two years of dating — her experience working with Michael C. Hall was much more pleasant.
“He is a dog whisperer,” she told Us of her Dexter: New Blood costar, noting that her miniature schnauzer, Ewok, isn’t “particularly friendly” to people but loved Hall, 50.
Chung joked that her pup is “more like a cat” and “doesn’t like to be touched unless he approaches you,” which is why she got worried when the Six Feet Under alum decided to pet him.
“In my mind, I’m like, ‘Please, please don’t bite him, please.’ I don’t wanna get to sued,” she explained. “And I was, like, kind of holding my breath and Ewok just, like, totally warmed up to him and let him pet his back. He is the dog whisperer, and he does love animals and he has the cutest little dog himself.”
The former Gifted actress, who welcomed twin boys via surrogate in October 2021 with husband Bryan Greenberg, also dished on working with one of her husband’s close friends Ben McKenzie. Chung previously shared the screen with McKenzie, 43, and his wife, Morena Baccarin, on Gotham in 2016, and had nothing but nice things to say about their time together.
“Ben McKenzie, what a doll,” she said, adding that she had the “absolute pleasure” of filming with him and Baccarin, 42. “They’re just the sweetest. I think they were — they still had just baby No. 1. and they were expecting baby No. 2. [He’s] the nicest guy.”
Watch the exclusive video above to see more of Chung’s costar secrets — including why she thinks Zach Galifianakis is “one of the funniest actors” ever.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
