The Sweetest Things Bradley Cooper Has Said About His Daughter Lea De Seine

We've seen the award-winning actor play many roles throughout his career, but "Dad" might be our all-time favorite

Bradley Cooper,Lea De Seine Shayk Cooper
Bradley Cooper and his daughter, Lea De Seine Shayk Cooper. Photo: Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP

As a multi-award-winning actor with several film credits, Bradley Cooper is a very busy person, but filmmaking isn't his only job.

Along with acting onstage and screen, directing, writing and producing, Cooper is dad to daughter Lea De Seine, whom he shares with ex Irina Shayk.

Born March 21, 2017, Lea is the first child for both Cooper and Shayk. Though the couple split in 2019, they co-parent their daughter, with Shayk telling HIGHStyle magazine for its September 2021 cover story that Cooper is "a full-on, hands-on dad."

Here are some sweet things the doting dad has said about his daughter over the years.

01 of 09

Bradley Cooper on being his daughter's teacher

Bradley Cooper,Lea De Seine Shayk Cooper
Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP

Since welcoming Lea in March 2017, Cooper now has many dad duties. "I'm running a one-man preschool," the Oscar nominee joked with Interview magazine.

He also gets creative with his surroundings, adding, "We get up, we do swim class in the bathtub."

02 of 09

Bradley Cooper on his daughter being his dream come true

Nightmare Alley
20th Century Studios

Cooper starred in two movies, Licorice Pizza and Nightmare Alley, in two consecutive months so you can imagine the actor's schedule is stacked. He credits his daughter for helping him live in the moment.

"Having a child, and having a family of my own — which is a miracle and something I've always dreamt of — has opened me up even more, I guess, to the day, and to be present," he told NPR.

03 of 09

Bradley Cooper on raising his daughter the way he was raised

91st Annual Academy Awards - Show
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. Kevin Winter/Getty

In an interview with NPR, Cooper briefly opened up about his daughter Lea De Seine while discussing his bond with A Star is Born costar Lady Gaga.

The actor said he and Gaga connected instantly because they "were very, very loved as children." He added, "When I meet people that have had that similar upbringing, I can just see it in them."

He noted that he wants his daughter Lea to have that same upbringing, saying, "That's the thing I want my daughter to have — I just always want her to feel loved."

04 of 09

Bradley Cooper on how his daughter reminds him of his father

The Actors Studio presents a private screening of 'A Letter to Elia', New York, America - 01 Nov 2010
Amanda Schwab/StarPix/REX/Shutterstock

Cooper shared with Oprah Winfrey that his daughter reminds him of someone else he deeply loved during Oprah's SuperSoul Conversations from Times Square.

"[Having a family has] changed everything," he said about his daughter with Irina Shayk. "Our daughter, she's incredible. And I see my father in her quite often."

The actor's father, Charles, died in 2011 from lung cancer.

Cooper added, "I can't believe I'm gonna admit this, but I had moments when … I was in the room with her, I would say, 'Dad?' " There are some moments where she looks just like my father. I watch too many movies."

05 of 09

Bradley Cooper on his daughter's taste in music

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Neal Preston/Warner Bros.

As a two-time Grammy winner, there's no denying Cooper has love of music, but he has his daughter to thank for expanding his music taste.

"Well, I've been opened up to a world of children's music, that's for sure," he joked in an interview with NPR.

06 of 09

Bradley Cooper on his daughter recognizing his Guardians of the Galaxy character

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Chris Pratt and Rocket (Bradley Cooper) in Guardians of the Galaxy 2.

The actor has voiced the hot-tempered raccoon Rocket in Marvel Cinematic Universe's Guardians of the Galaxy since the first volume was released in 2014.

During an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, he explained how he brought is daughter to the Disneyland's Guardians of the Galaxy attraction and she recognized his voice (well, sort of).

"We got to sit going to the intro of the ride and it was like, my voice, it was really cool," he said. (His character, Rocket Raccoon, is featured in the ride.) "I would say, 'Daddy, daddy.' Then she kinda looked up and she saw … she was like, 'Daddy?'"

07 of 09

Bradley Cooper on how his daughter brings out his "childlike self"

Ellen DeGeneres
Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.

During the The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Cooper opened up about how fatherhood has changed him and helped him let his guard down.

"It allowed me to embrace my childlike self without any sort of like, fear of judgment," he said. "Like, I could just play with toys all day long and not feel like, 'Is this weird?' Or watch cartoons endlessly and not think I'm wasting my life. I love cartoons."

08 of 09

Bradley Cooper on his daughter defying the phrase of "terrible twos"

Bradley Cooper,Lea De Seine Shayk Cooper
Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP

Cooper makes the role of "Dad" seem easy. During Cooper's appearance on the The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2019, he revealed that Lea never went through the "Terrible Twos."

"You know, I don't subscribe to that," Cooper admitted. "I don't even know what that means."

09 of 09

Bradley Cooper on how his daughter "changed everything"

Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper. Vivien Killilea/Getty Images

During Cooper's appearance on Amazon Music and Wondery's SmartLess podcast, the actor opened up about his personal journey with addiction and shared how being a parent has put things in perspective for him.

"Fatherhood is … everything changed," Cooper said. "Every single thing is absolutely shaded by, or brought into glorious colors, by the fact that I get to be a father to a wonderful human being."

"You have this wonderful thing or breakthrough with a script, or you have a wonderful moment on this set or in an editing room … you have like 40 of those moments every day with your kid, that are that level of joy. That's not spinning it, that's just the truth."

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