Bradley Cooper Thought His ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ Title Was A Prank, Says Dax Shepard
Bradley Cooper couldn’t believe his ears when he was named PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2011. In fact, his first reaction was that it had to be a joke. Dax Shepard, the actor’s close friend, recently shared this surprising story during an onstage conversation at the 25th annual New Yorker Festival in New York City.
Dax, 49, recalled how Bradley, also 49, was completely stunned by the news. “He genuinely thought when he was named Sexiest Man Alive that it was a bit — that PEOPLE Magazine was pulling a prank. He thought they were f—— with him,” he stated.
Despite being one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, Bradley had doubts about his looks. Dax couldn’t help but poke fun at his friend’s humility, saying, “I’m like, ‘You handsome son of a bitch. You have no idea how horny everybody is for you.’”
The Armchair Expert host went on to explain that even the most successful people can be hard on themselves. “I’m interviewing people who are either acclaimed academics or politicians or movie stars. They are very high-status people, and almost without exception, the beautiful people think they’re ugly, smart people think they’re dumb, the rich people feel like they don’t have enough,” Dax stated.
Dax and Bradley’s friendship goes way back, thanks to actor Will Arnett, who introduced them in 2006. Since then, the two have remained close, with Bradley even opening up about his insecurities on Dax’s Armchair Expert podcast in 2021. At the time, Bradley admitted that when his publicist called with the news about the “Sexiest Man Alive” title, he thought it was a prank Shepard had set up.
Reflecting on the 2011 announcement, Bradley recalled, “Oh, this is not going to be good. Everybody’s gonna be like: What? And the truth is, that is what happened.”
He noted that some people were so disappointed with the choice that they even protested for Ryan Gosling to get the title instead.
Despite the mixed reactions, Bradley remained humble. “I think it’s really cool that a guy who doesn’t look like a model can have this [title],” he told PEOPLE back in 2011.
He added, with typical modesty, that he’s “decent-looking” and joked, “Sometimes I can look great, and other times I look horrifying.”
At the time of receiving the title, Bradley was single and didn’t consider himself a ladies’ man. “If you’re a single man and you happen to be in this business, you’re deemed a player,” he said. But one thing was clear — his first thought when he learned the news? “My mother is going to be so happy.”
