Liam Neeson Found Bradley Cooper’s Acting ‘Terrifying’ When They Co-Starred in ‘The A-Team’
Bradley Cooper and action star Liam Neeson once teamed up for the action feature The A-Team. But Neeson asserted that Cooper caught the actor off guard when Cooper improvised one of the movie’s scenes.
How Liam Neeson and Bradley Cooper ended up in ‘The A-Team’
Neeson and Cooper both starred in the film adaptation of the classic television series The A-Team starring Mr. T. The original 1983 program was about a group of ex-special forces on the run from the military for a crime they didn’t commit.
Neeson’s 2010 adaptation of the television series focused on the main premise of the show and expanded upon it. The star agreed to play the leader of the group Hannibal Smith after getting a taste of the film’s story.
“When I first read the script I was really taken with the relationship between the four guys that [director] Joe Carnahan and [writer] Brian Broom managed to keep at the heart of the script,” Neeson once told Female. “Clearly a lot of thought had gone into it and it had a wonderful camaraderie between the guys. Hannibal is a believable hero. He’s moral, has a strong sense of ethics and loves his country and his men.”
Meanwhile, Cooper was interested in the feature because he hadn’t been in too many action films at the time. A-Team gave the superstar the opportunity to explore a genre Neeson was already well-versed in with films like Taken.
“It’s always been a dream to do an action movie,” Cooper said “I love sports and I love pretending to fight. And to take on such an iconic show, one that I grew up on, and to do so besides the likes of Liam Neeson, is just amazing.”
Liam Neeson was once terrified when Bradley Cooper went off script for ‘The A-Team’
A-Team was the first time Cooper and Neeson collaborated with each other. But Neeson assured that working with the Wedding Crashers star was a pleasure, and perhaps one of the most enjoyable aspects of the film.
“It was a no-brainer. That’s the thing I’m proudest of with the whole film – our chemistry on screen. It’s there and palpable and it was a joy to go into work every day with the boys, it really was. All egos were left at the door,” Cooper said in a 2010 interview with The Fan Carpet.
But although they got along well enough, Neeson admitted there was one sequence where Cooper caught him off guard with his performance. It didn’t help that the scene in question wasn’t scripted. Still, Neeson found Cooper’s improvising as impressive as it was intimidating.
“We did a scene in the van which was my first time with Bradley. He starts this improvisation, prompted by the director, and I’m there going, ‘What the hell is this?’ So it was terrifying for the first few days, and then it got to be inspiring actually,” Neeson once said according to Digital Spy.
Bradley Cooper once revealed why there wasn’t a sequel to ‘The A-Team’
The A-Team was made as a potential franchise in mind. But there weren’t any more films made beyond the first movie. Although the Alias alum was a fan of the film, he revealed that it didn’t make enough box-office for sequels.
“I loved it too. But unfortunately outside of you, a few of your friends and myself, there just wasn’t enough revenue to supply a second installment of that franchise,” Cooper once said according to Movie Web.
The Numbers would support his claim. The website reported that the movie made $177,000,000 at the box-office on a $110,000,000 budget. Given these figures, it’s easy to see why the cast and crew didn’t think a sequel might be profitable.
