Bradley Cooper reflects on ‘The Hangover’ and friendship with Mike Tyson

Bradley Cooper talked about striking up a friendship with former boxer Mike Tyson, who had a role in the popular Hangover movie franchise. The actor subsequently received what he thought was one of Tyson’s championship belts, but later found out the boxer had them specially made.

Talking about the experience on The Late Late Show with James Corden, Cooper said: “Oddly enough we got on crazily, we got on great. We became friends. I’d like to say that, I don’t know what he would say. We’ve lost touch over the last few years, but there was that James Toback documentary, I went to the premiere of that with him and his family.”

He continued: “I was doing the play ‘The Elephant Man‘ and his family came to see it and they gave me one of his boxing belts. I didn’t know what to do because it had the medallions and everything [but then] I noticed it wasn’t a real belt – I think it was like a Mike Tyson belt, not one of the real championship belts. At first I did [think it was genuine] and my heart stopped, and I was like ‘I can’t accept this’ and then I looked and said ‘Oh’.”

Cooper also met Bill Clinton, who said he was a fan of his work, while filming the second entry with director Todd Phillips.

He explained: “It was nuts. What do you talk about? Everything. That man’s knowledge is expansive. I remember there was an empty seat and I sat next to him and he was so amiable, the first thing he said was ‘Is there gonna be an ‘A Team 2‘ and can I be in it?’”

Phillips also learned Clinton’s favorite movie is 2007’s Who’s Your Caddy? starring Big Boi from the musical band Outcast.

Phillip’s said: “He is literally everything you heard about. He’s so engaging, he looks you in the eye and talks to you about what he thinks you would be interested in. I was sitting next to him and he kept talking to me about movies, because – he didn’t know who I was but – ‘Here’s a director’.”