15 Years Ago, This Sci-Fi Thriller Cemented Bradley Cooper on Hollywood’s A-List

Audiences who saw Bradley Cooper as the theater‑obsessed Ben in Wet Hot American Summer would scarcely have predicted the trajectory his career would take a decade later. Through the aughts he was often cast as the handsome, charming frat boy in films like Wedding Crashers, Valentine's Day, He's Just Not That Into You and The Hangover, even playing characters with names such as Sack, Demo, Trash and Holden.

Casting Director Douglas Aibel, who had previously hired Cooper for Failure to Launch, saw a different potential when he brought Cooper to Neil Burger's sci‑fi thriller Limitless. Limitless, based on the novel The Dark Fields, arrived with a clearly developed protagonist that gave Burger a firm foundation to guide Cooper.

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