Bradley Cooper Pitched Sleeping With Jennifer Garner’s Character in ‘Alias’ to Beef up His Role
Bradley Cooper didn’t have the easiest time doing the television series Alias. A rising star back then, Cooper wanted more out of Alias and his profession. He saw a romantic fling between his character and Jennifer Garner’s as a means for expanding his character.
Bradley Cooper wanted to make his role with Jennifer Garner more fulfilling
Cooper has been very candid about his time on the hit television show Alias. The series remains one of Garner’s most popular roles, but the memory has been a bit of a sore spot for her co-star. Especially since his time on the show might’ve done more harm than good for his acting career. Directors couldn’t see past the nice-guy image Cooper cultivated on the series, which limited his acting opportunities.
“I would constantly go to auditions and they would say, ‘He’s just not edgy enough,’” Cooper recalled in an interview with The Telegraph.
Cooper was also disappointed by the amount of work he was given on the show, which didn’t feel nearly enough. To keep himself from walking away, he offered Alias creator J.J. Abrams a few ideas regarding his character.
“I was only working two days a week, and I would be in two scenes an episode, asking Jennifer how her trip went, which was not fulfilling at all. I was losing my mind,” Cooper remembered. “’I said, could I kill a character, sleep with Jennifer and have my own mission? And he said yes!’”
But the changes still weren’t enough to keep Cooper happy. After some time, the actor simply wanted to leave the show to search for more fulfilling opportunities.
“I would only work three days a week. And then for the second season, I got even more sidelined. I was like, ‘Ugh.’ And then next thing you know, I was like, ‘I want to f***ing kill myself.,’” Cooper told GQ. “J.J. was like, ‘Okay.’ He probably would’ve fired me, anyway.”
Jennifer Garner joked that Bradley Cooper was the Brad Pitt of ‘Alias’
Garner and Cooper seemed to have forged a tight bond during their time on Alias. But their friendship meant it was sometimes difficult to get through certain scenes in the show.
“[Working with Cooper is] fine, but every few takes, we have to just stop, because things get so big and ridiculous, that we feel like circus clowns. Because I’m working with [Bradley Cooper]. Because I’m working with a monkey,” she once joked with Cooper in an interview with Access.
She further joked that the American Sniper star was the Brad Pitt of Alias, although neither seemed to know what she meant by that statement. Garner would go on to clarify that she and Cooper just had a great time on the Alias set. So much so that Garner quipped if the spy series would ever make a comeback, she’d drag Cooper to the reboot. Whether he wanted to do it or not.
“[I’ll] grab Bradley by the scruff of his neck,” Garner once told The Hollywood Reporter.
Jennifer Garner once joked that she didn’t think Bradley Cooper was handsome until he spoke another language
Garner and Cooper’s friendship has lasted way longer than the show. The pair are often thought of as so close that rumors have circulated every now and then that they’re romantically involved. But both have maintained that their bond is strictly platonic.
Given their friendship, Garner once couldn’t resist the urge to poke fun at the Wedding Crashers star. At the 32nd Annual Cinematheque Awards, Garner joked about Cooper’s looks when honoring him at the ceremony.
“My mental image of Bradley Cooper is of an apple-drooling frosted haired boy wonder,” Garner once said according to Newsweek. “It wasn’t until I heard him speaking French to a background artist on set one day that I was like, ‘Wait a minute. Is Bradley handsome?'”
Then on a more serious note, Garner told audiences what she genuinely admired about her former co-star.
“I know the heart and stomach of Bradley Cooper. Bradley, what’s happening to you now is a pure joy to those who know you, especially to those of us who’ve known you from the start. It turns out you weren’t just handsome all along. You were also a wonder, and you are welcome at my table anytime,” she said.
