Bradley Cooper Gushes About Daughter Lea, 6, & Says He Doesn’t Know if He’d Be ‘Alive’ if He Wasn’t a Dad

The ‘Maestro’ actor, director and writer said he wants Lea to ‘have as much foundation as she can’ in a new interview.

Bradley Cooper admitted he isn’t sure he’d “be alive if [he] wasn’t a dad” in a new interview. The 49-year-old Maestro writer-director-producer-actor made a rare comment about his 6-year-old daughter, Lea De Seine — whom he shares with ex Irina Shayk — and credited  Lea with giving him purpose as a dad. 

“I’m not sure I’d be alive if I wasn’t a dad,” Bradley said during his Monday, February 26, appearance on the “Armchair Expert with Dax Shepherd” podcast. The Oscar nominee went on to provide a metaphor about how he saw his life before fatherhood. “I just needed someone to say, ‘We’re gonna drop this massive anchor,’ and I’m like, ‘Why? We’re speeding. We just got an upgrade on the boat, and I know where the wind is coming in.’ And they’re like, ‘No, there’s a tsunami coming, and you need an anchor and we’re gonna drop it. This is going to dictate everything you do from now on.” 

The Silver Linings Playbook actor also recalled feeling distant from his and Irina’s daughter during the first year after she was born. Irina, 38 and Bradley welcomed Lea in March 2017. While noting that other parents would tell him, “I would die in a second for my kid,” Bradley admitted it took him some time before it all clicked for him. 

“The first eight months, I was like, ‘I don’t even know if I really love the kid, it’s dope. It’s cool,’” Bradley joked “And then all of a sudden it’s like no question. … Your DNA is going to tell you there’s something more important than you.”

When it comes to Lea now, the filmmaker noted that he wants her to “have as much foundation as she can.” 

“I think about how my relationship with my daughter impacts her growth and the journey she’s gonna be on,” Bradley explained. “The least amount of damage I can do to my daughter — please let me work on myself.” 

Now that she’s growing up, Lea has made her acting debut alongside her dad! In Maestro, she played the role of young Jamie Bernstein, one of Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre’s three children. In fact, Lea accompanied Bradley at the red carpet debut of the December 2023 film premiere. Not only that, but Bradley even named production company, Lea Pictures.

Since he’s a dedicated co-parent with Irina, Bradley is willing to drop anything he’s doing to be there for Lea. While promoting Maestro last year, the A Star Is Born director and actor rushed out of a press conference due to an apparent urgent matter at Lea’s school. 

“The school nurse just called me … can I leave the room for a second to call them back and you can keep going?” Bradley asked. “Is that all right?”