Bradley Cooper wasn’t the first choice for Nightmare Alley?(Photo Credit –Facebook)
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Turns out, Bradley Cooper wasn’t Guillermo del Toro’s first pick for the role in Nightmare Alley. That spot originally belonged to Leonardo DiCaprio, and Cooper didn’t take that revelation lightly.
Back in 2019, Deadline reported that DiCaprio had signed on to star in del Toro’s noir psychological thriller. It was supposed to be the follow-up to the Oscar-winning The Shape of Water, and fans were pumped to see DiCaprio and del Toro team up. But for reasons never made public, DiCaprio quietly stepped away from the project later that year.
Enter Cooper. He stepped into the lead role of Stanton “Stan” Carlisle, a slick carny turned cunning con man. But instead of feeling triumphant, Cooper spiraled a bit. In a candid chat with Mahershala Ali for Variety’s Actors on Actors series, he admitted, “Nightmare Alley was an interesting example of how insecure I am. I was like, ‘Oh, I guess I still am the guy that wants to be in the group’ because I had no intention of acting in anything other than what I’ve been writing.”
The vulnerability didn’t stop there. Cooper added, “Leonardo DiCaprio fell out, and Guillermo del Toro came to me. I still remember thinking, ‘Oh wow, the guys that don’t hire me, they want to hire me?’ And then it was like, ‘Of course, I have to do it just because I’ve never been allowed into that group.’ It was insecurity and ego.”
Coming from a guy with The Hangover, Guardians of the Galaxy, American Sniper, and A Star Is Born under his belt, the confession was a surprise. Cooper had already collected multiple Oscar nominations by then, including one for his directing debut. Yet the idea of being a second choice still hit a nerve.
The twist? That very insecurity may have fueled his performance. Cooper brought Stan Carlisle to life with eerie intensity. He embraced the morally grey, slow-burn descent into madness that defined the film. And while Nightmare Alley only made about $15 million at the global box office, it earned critical praise and found a second life with audiences once it hit HBO Max and Hulu in early 2022.
Cooper later called the experience of working with del Toro “incredible” and seemed grateful for the opportunity. Even though he didn’t initially chase the role, he owned it, and then some. At the same time, Cooper had already started shifting gears toward creative control, diving into Maestro, his passion project where he played legendary composer Leonard Bernstein and directed again.
So while DiCaprio might’ve been the first call, Cooper proved he was the right one. A little insecurity, it turned out, helped deliver one of his most layered performances to date.
