He trained with a personal trainer, a vocal coach and a SEAL

Nov 15, 2014 11:51 GMT  ·  By
Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle in official still from “American Sniper”
11 photos
   Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle in official still from “American Sniper”

Bradley Cooper has been delivering very solid performances in the past few years, but he’s yet to go home with a Best Actor, supporting or not, Oscar statuette. That could very well change with “American Sniper,” from director Clint Eastwood, in which he plays lead.

The film, whose trailer you will find embedded below, stars Cooper as real life Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, one of the deadliest snipers in US history.

It will be out in theaters on December 25 and is believed to earn Cooper a nomination in the Best Actor category at next year’s Oscars. Considering how challenging the preparation for the role was, if his performance in the film is up to par, he deserves the shout-out – and even to win.

Cooper bulked up, trained hard to become Kyle

Writer-producer Jason Hall spoke to People Magazine about the intense preparation Cooper underwent for the film. We already knew that he’d gained about 40 pounds (18.1 kg) of muscle mass for the role, because we’d seen on-set photos and had heard rumors about it.

What we didn’t know until now was how exactly he did it. According to Hall, Cooper went on this “crazy” diet that probably totaled about 8,000 calories daily, where he “was eating about 55 minutes or something like that.”

Of course, you don’t gain muscle mass just by eating more. If that were the case, we’d all have the body of a Superman or Superwoman: Cooper also trained hard for every single day before production started.

“Bradley used his own trainer, who was busting on him. I think he was working out four hours a day for several months,” Hall explains. “He was determined to do it naturally, he didn't want to use any hormones or steroids or anything. He was just very systematic about it and took his trainer with him wherever he went.”

Preparations also included working with a vocal coach and a real SEAL

As with every other role, getting to the character’s weight is just one aspect of the work that an actor puts in to become that character. With biopics, the task is infinitely more challenging, because people will always compare the onscreen version to the real one.

Cooper wanted to make his version of Kyle as faithful to the real one as possible, so bulking up was just the start of his journey.

Hall says that he also trained twice a day with a vocal coach, who helped him recreate Kylie’s manner of speaking starting from various recordings with the sniper. Cooper would play these recordings “over and over again,” says the producer.

Then, he also had to learn how to shoot a rifle, which, as you might imagine, is no small thing. For that, he trained with Navy SEAL sniper Kevin Lacz, who also worked with Kyle. By the time production started, Cooper was actually getting pretty good at it, with very few misses.

Nonetheless, his most impressive achievement on the set of the film, Hall continues, is his ability to capture Kyle’s essence down to the most heartbreaking detail.

Dramatic body transformations in movies (11 Images)

Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle in official still from “American Sniper”
Bradley Cooper had to gain 40 pounds (18.1 kg) in muscle mass for the “American Sniper” roleGerard Butler in “300” and in “Law Abiding Citizen”
+8more