2024 Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper’s TV cameo has been dubbed "awkward" by fans after it aired just hours after he was snubbed yet again at the annual awards ceremony.
The 49-year-old, who earned his first Oscar nomination back in 2012 for Silver Linings Playbook, left the Academy Awards empty handed after his critically-acclaimed biopic Maestro, where he plays the legendary composer Leonard Bernstein, missed out in all seven categories it had been nominated in, including Best Picture, and Best Actor. Just hours after the Oscars had drawn to a close, his hotly-anticipated cameo in the hit comedy Abbott Elementary aired, and fans noticed his self-deprecating turn in the show was a little too close to home.
In the episode, Bradley plays himself and arrives at the eponymous school as the guest of a second-grade student Kaleel, but the class fail to recognise the Hollywood star. "Oh, I just loved you in The Holdovers. It was just so heartwarming," Barbara (played by Sheryl Lee Ralph) tells the Guardians of the Galaxy star, mistaking him for fellow Best Actor nominee Paul Giamatti. "It’s The Hangover and no it’s not," Gregory (played by Tyler James Williams) replies, as he corrects her.
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"Guys, he’s literally in a critically acclaimed film right now," Janine (played by Quinta Brunson) says, only for Melissa to incorrectly guess Bradley was in Oppenheimer. "I wasn’t in Oppenheimer," the actor interjects, as Ava (played Janelle James) quips: "Are you sure? Everybody was in Oppenheimer."
Hugh Jackman urges Academy not to nominate Ryan Reynolds for best songFans were left cringing at the timing of the episode, as Bradley had just lost out on his fourth Best Actor Oscar to Cillian Murphy, who played the titular physicist in Christopher Nolan’s epic drama. "Airing this right after he lost multiple oscars to oppenheimer was FOUL," one fan tweeted, as another joked: "Maestro campaign happened a little too late my guy."
Series creator and star Quinta Brunson said The Hangover star was "eager" to make a cameo in the hit comedy show, and said he wanted to get involved as he was from Philadelphia. "He was lovely on set. Super kind and cool to the cast, crew and kids. He walked down to meet the crew before it was even time for him to film. It was awesome, and it was a joy to act with him," she said in a statement.
Bradley has been nominated a whopping 12 times at the Academy Awards over the course of his career, but has never won an Oscar. His first nomination was back in 2012 for Silver Linings Playbook. The following year, he was nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category for American Hustle, and again in 2014, he was up for Best Actor for his role in American Sniper, which he also produced.
While he missed out on a directing nod, he did manage to land a nomination for Best Actor for A Star Is Born, but lost out to Rami Malek for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody. He’s also earned nominations for producing Best Picture nominee movies, including Joker and Nightmare Alley, as well as Maestro, which failed to win any awards at the Oscars this year.