Bradley Cooper Not Playing Lance Armstrong in Movie
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Theo Wargo/WireImage for Tommy Hilfiger(LOS ANGELES) — Bradley Cooper is putting to rest reports that he wants to portray Lance Armstrong on the big screen in a new J.J. Abrams-directed film.
In an interview with Access Hollywood, the Silver Linings Playbook star exclaimed, “Oh my God, that’s so nuts,” when asked about reports he was interested in portraying the disgraced cyclist.
Cooper then explained how the report got started.
“I was in Manchester [England], doing the BBC morning show and the guy out of the blue — we were talking about Silver Linings Playbook — and he says, ‘Oh, what about Lance Armstrong, would you want to play him?’ I had no idea what he was talking about. I mean, I know who Lance Armstrong is, but it’s like he was asking a random question. ‘Do you like a yellow coat?’ You know what I mean: ‘Yea, that would be great. What a fascinating character.’ That’s it. Done.”
Cooper says the story exploded after that, adding, “I didn’t even know that J.J. [Abrams] has the rights.”
Initially, the BBC reported that the Oscar-nominated actor expressed interest in playing Armstrong and quoted him as saying, “I remember Matt Damon was going to do his autobiography at one point years ago. I remember thinking, that would be a great character, I’d love to play that character. I would love to do something, I think he’s pretty fascinating.”
Armstrong recently admitted in a two-part interview with Oprah Winfrey that he used performance-enhancing drugs. Armstrong has been stripped of his Tour de France titles and banned from the sport.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio