Yes, I gazed into those eyes

When Bradley Cooper arrived at WHYY for our Fresh Air interview, he didn’t storm in with an imposing entourage. He walked in with a local publicist and….his mom.

Cooper grew up in nearby Abington and was visiting home when the interview was scheduled, so he brought his mother along, who was a delightful lady.

Most leading men profess modesty when you ask about their Hollywood Hunk image, but in Cooper’s case, I buy it.

Though he’s obviously excited about the success he’s had the last couple of years, he doesn’t yet think he rules the world. In our interview he told a story about how little his life changed when he finally got a leading role in a big movie, Limitless.

After the opening weekend led other big releases at the big box office, he thought the phone would be ringing off the hook with offers for great parts. Nope. Soon he and a friend were making an audition videotape of himself in his kitchen.

Cooper is promoting The Hangover Part II, and he has a fun story about working with the monkey who plays a cigarette-smoking drug dealer in the film.

I also discovered chatting with him that we might have met years ago. He was a high school intern at the Philadelphia Daily News in 1992, when I was covering city hall for the paper.

He recalled spending a day tagging along with a reporter at the city hall bureau, and even thought I might look familiar. My guess is the guy he shadowed was Dave Racher, our veteran court reporter who could fill your day with memorable stories.

But maybe…..

You can hear my interview with Bradley Cooper on Fresh Air, which airs at 3 and 7 today on WHYY. If you’re outside the Philly area, you can find a station here. And you can always listen or download the show at the Fresh Air website.