Bradley Cooper Shares Rare Insight Into Bond With Daughter Lea

Originally appeared on E! Online

Bradley Cooper‘s little girl is ready to hustle in Hollywood.

The Silver Linings Playbook star revealed how his and ex Irina Shayk‘s 8-year-old daughter Lea has played an active role in his movie-making process.

“She’s part of it,” Bradley exclusively told E! News at the Is This Thing On? world premiere on the closing night of the 2025 New York Film Festival Oct. 10. “I was making A Star is Born when she was born and then Maestro, she’s in.”

With his latest movie—in which he stars alongside Will Arnett and Laura Dern—being filmed in New York City, he was able to balance his career and home life pretty easily. As he explained, “I don’t work that much and each project takes years.”

Along with remaining present in both parts of his life, it also meant that Lea was able to tag along to the set.

“There’s nothing weird about it,” the 50-year-old explained. “It’s just a part of what we do, and it’s kind of a nice thing. She cares so much about it.”

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And Lea may even be ready to get her own producing credit on one of Bradley’s future projects.

“Kids, they say exactly what they think, and she has a big opinion about everything,” he teased. “I love it and I care what she thinks. Even with casting, we’ll look at casting auditions together.”

For Bradley—who is currently dating Gigi Hadid—welcoming Lea into the world had been a stabilizing force in his life.

“Honestly, I’m not sure I’d be alive if I weren’t a dad—I don’t know,” he shared while discussing his sobriety journey on the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepherd podcast in 2024. “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.'”

John Salangsang/Shutterstock

“And they’re like, ‘No, there’s a tsunami coming and you need an anchor and we’re gonna drop it,'” he continued. “‘This is going to dictate everything you do from now on. Your DNA is going to tell you there’s something more important than you.'”

The American Sniper actor now looks to Lea as his North Star.

“I want 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,” he explained. “The least amount of damage I can do to my daughter—please let me work on myself.”

For a closer look at Bradley and Lea’s sweetest father-daughter moments, keep reading.

Beach Babes

Wild Child

“Watch out for KITTY CATSSS,” the runway regular declared in a June 2024 post, sharing a slew of feline-themed throwbacks of her little girl.

The Cat’s Meow

In the same carousel of photos, Irina included this snap of Lea leaning into her wild side. And the Victoria’s Secret model has shared that her little one is the purrfect companion.

She and Bradley “both take Lea everywhere with us,” she declared to Elle in 2023. “She’s super easy.” Among their outings: A fitting with Michael Kors. Lea left with a goody bag from the designer and in return, shared Irina, “She drew him a kitty cat.”

A Star Is Born

After making a cameo in Dad’s Oscar-nominated 2023 biopic Maestro (Bradley co-wrote, starred in, directed and produced the movie), Lea made her red carpet debut at the L.A. premiere that December.

Another Look

“She was great,” Bradley gushed of his daughter’s performance. “She was really awesome.”

Bradley’s Muse

Though Irina didn’t attend the L.A. premiere, she did provide her Instagram followers with this glimpse of a private screening. Unsurprisingly, Bradley named his production company after his pride and joy. “He’s the best father Lea and I could dream of,” Irina told Elle. “It always works, but it always works because we make it work.”

Dad’s Plus One