Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#66
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Bradley Cooper represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 26 years in, and Bradley is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Bradley Cooper appears in 50 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Bradley. The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU is the clearest case: a film rated 9.7 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for crime, action, science fiction. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Bradley Cooper, James Gunn, John Krasinski and others, Bradley Cooper helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU (2020) as (archive footage) · Avengers: Endgame (2019) as Rocket (voice) · Avengers: Infinity War (2018) as Rocket (voice)
Career snapshot
Ranked #66 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
50
2001–2027
Career length
26 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
9.7
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU
Average Nutevio score
6.7
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
9.7
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU
Most frequent director
James Gunn
5 films together
Longest collaboration
5×
With James Gunn
Most common genre
Comedy
25 titles
Average runtime
1h 49m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.1
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
7.0
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
2010s
6.9 average MV
The 2010s are where the work and the material meet. Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, The Mule — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2010s
6.9
Across 23 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2010s
6.9
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
2000s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. The Hangover, He's Just Not That Into You, Case 39.
Most productive era
2010s
23 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 6.32 films | 6.712 films | 6.74 films |
| Action | — | 7.57 films | 7.43 films |
| Thriller | 6.31 film | 7.04 films | 6.91 film |
| Comedy | 6.210 films | 6.38 films | 7.07 films |
| Crime | — | 6.85 films | 3.52 films |
| Romance | 6.45 films | 6.45 films | 6.63 films |
| Horror | 6.03 films | 7.01 film | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Ben.
First Nutevio masterpiece · Highest rated performance · Career peak
2020The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU
The first film here to clear 9.0 on our scale — a threshold fewer than one film in ten reaches. 9.7 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer. Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
The current state of the argument.
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
50 of 50 films
as (archive footage)
Directed by Brad Lachman
as Rocket (voice)
Directed by Anthony Russo
as Rocket (voice)
Directed by Anthony Russo
as Rocket (voice)
Directed by James Gunn
as Phil Wenneck
Directed by Todd Phillips
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
Loading credits…
The defining work
#1
(archive footage)
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU (2020)
Performance score9.2
The performance the rest of the career is read through. (archive footage) gives Bradley Cooper a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Rocket (voice)
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Performance score8.2
Avengers: Endgame asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Rocket (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Rocket (voice)
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Performance score8.2
Avengers: Infinity War asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Rocket (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Rocket (voice)
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Performance score8.1
Guardians of the Galaxy asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Rocket (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as (archive footage)
Start here. The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU is the clearest statement of what Bradley Cooper does — accessible, 42 minutes, and rated 9.7 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Bradley at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
The Hangover (2009)
A deliberate change of key after The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
A deliberate change of key after The Hangover — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Keeps the action register of Guardians of the Galaxy but asks for a colder reading of it.
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Same director as Avengers: Infinity War, different problem to solve. Watching them in order shows how much of the effect was the collaboration.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
James Gunn
Director
5 films together
Notably Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Todd Phillips
Director
4 films together
Notably The Hangover
Bradley Cooper
Director
4 films together
Notably A Star Is Born
David O. Russell
Director
3 films together
Notably Silver Linings Playbook
Clint Eastwood
Director
2 films together
Notably American Sniper
Anthony Russo
Director
2 films together
Notably Avengers: Endgame
David Wain
Director
1 film together
Notably Wet Hot American Summer
Marc Evans
Director
1 film together
Notably My Little Eye
David Dobkin
Director
1 film together
Notably Wedding Crashers
Tom Brady
Director
1 film together
Notably The Comebacks
Fatih Akin
Director
1 film together
Notably New York, I Love You
Ryuhei Kitamura
Director
1 film together
Notably The Midnight Meat Train
Peyton Reed
Director
1 film together
Notably Yes Man
Phil Traill
Director
1 film together
Notably All About Steve
Christian Alvart
Director
1 film together
Notably Case 39
Ken Kwapis
Director
1 film together
Notably He's Just Not That Into You
Joe Carnahan
Director
1 film together
Notably The A-Team
Garry Marshall
Director
1 film together
Notably Valentine's Day
Neil Burger
Director
1 film together
Notably Limitless
Dax Shepard
Director
1 film together
Notably Hit & Run
Brian Klugman
Director
1 film together
Notably The Words
Derek Cianfrance
Director
1 film together
Notably The Place Beyond the Pines
Susanne Bier
Director
1 film together
Notably Serena
Cameron Crowe
Director
1 film together
Notably Aloha
John Wells
Director
1 film together
Notably Burnt
Dan Trachtenberg
Director
1 film together
Notably 10 Cloverfield Lane
Brad Lachman
Director
1 film together
Notably The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU
Paul Thomas Anderson
Director
1 film together
Notably Licorice Pizza
Guillermo del Toro
Director
1 film together
Notably Nightmare Alley
Kirsten Lepore
Director
1 film together
Notably Magnum Opus
Taika Waititi
Director
1 film together
Notably Thor: Love and Thunder
John Francis Daley
Director
1 film together
Notably Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
John Krasinski
Director
1 film together
Notably IF
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
James Gunn
Director
5 films together · 7.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 5 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3Todd Phillips
Director
4 films together · 6.8 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 4 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The HangoverBradley Cooper
Director
4 films together · 5.1 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 4 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
A Star Is BornDavid O. Russell
Director
3 films together · 6.9 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Silver Linings PlaybookAnthony Russo
Director
2 films together · 8.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Avengers: EndgameClint Eastwood
Director
2 films together · 7.2 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
American SniperBrad Lachman
Director
1 film together · 9.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVUJohn Francis Daley
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among ThievesKirsten Lepore
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Magnum OpusNeil Burger
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
LimitlessDan Trachtenberg
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
10 Cloverfield LaneDerek Cianfrance
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Place Beyond the PinesJohn Krasinski
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
IFGuillermo del Toro
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Nightmare AlleyPaul Thomas Anderson
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Licorice PizzaPeyton Reed
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Yes ManBrian Klugman
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The WordsTaika Waititi
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Thor: Love and ThunderKen Kwapis
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
He's Just Not That Into YouJohn Wells
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BurntDavid Dobkin
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Wedding CrashersJoe Carnahan
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The A-TeamChristian Alvart
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Case 39Ryuhei Kitamura
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Midnight Meat TrainDavid Wain
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Wet Hot American SummerFatih Akin
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
New York, I Love YouGarry Marshall
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Valentine's DayDax Shepard
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Hit & RunSusanne Bier
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SerenaCameron Crowe
Director
1 film together · 5.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
AlohaMarc Evans
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
My Little EyePhil Traill
Director
1 film together · 5.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
All About SteveTom Brady
Director
1 film together · 4.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The ComebacksSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU
as (archive footage)
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
A Star Is Born
as Jackson Maine
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU
as (archive footage)
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Avengers: Endgame
as Rocket (voice)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU
as (archive footage)
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Bradley Cooper has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
26 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Comedy Legend
Awarded
25 catalogue titles in comedy, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU
as (archive footage)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU
as (archive footage)
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Maestro
as Leonard Bernstein
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Limitless
as Edward Morra
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Avengers: Endgame
as Rocket (voice)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
as Rocket (voice)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
War Dogs
as Henry Girard
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Avengers: Endgame
as Rocket (voice)
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
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Have your say
Community
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Reference
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