Bradley Cooper gained two important things from shooting his upcoming hyped summer comedy flick The Hangover.

The first being his now refined Yoda-like knowledge of throwing the perfect bachelor party- which he says should include condoms, a muppet, and lots of ice.

But the second, and by far gaining the most buzz, is Cooper’s promotion of a lifetime from a working actor, to well, a movie star.

Only, if you ask the humble 34-year-old North Philly about the hype, you’ll suddenly be hauled back down to earth.

“I don’t feel any of that and maybe I should,” Cooper tells andPOP modestly, trying to keep the excitement at bay. A failed attempt, considering Warner Bros. Entertainment already gave the green light to a sequel in 2011 even before the  current film hits theaters on June 5.

“I will admit this though,” he says, “I do have a bigger role in the movie than usual which I really liked.”

A lot bigger. Try the de facto lead role or “the cool alpha-male character,” as co-star Ed Helms puts it.

Cooper stars as Phil, the front-man of four buddies who head off for a wild bachelor party in Las Vegas. But how wild? Well imagine waking up the following morning only to find your groom missing, your memory from the night before erased, and your $4,000 Vegas hotel suite trashed, to say the least.

Though “trashed” is generally an understatement when a chicken is waddling around the living room, Mike Tyson’s pet tiger is in the bathroom, and an abandoned six-month-old infant is crying in the closet.

“That set design was literally crazy” recalls Cooper. “We had a bowling alley, an amazing castle made out of cards that would have taken months to do, and there was also a whole other castle made out of beer bottles. So much detail.”

Adds the actor, “And the fact that they nixed the whole bachelor party sequence, makes the story so appealing. With the group trying to find clues as to what happened the night before- it’s almost like a detective or mystery story.”

Moving up on Hollywood’s totem pole, Cooper’s role required two crucial assets: superb comic timing and leadership, both which the actor had in spades.

His well-known ability in the comedy genre is evident. With supporting roles in Wedding Crashers, Yes Man, and He’s Just Not That Into You, Cooper knows how to make people laugh- but was long overdue to be given the reigns.

Sure enough, Director Todd Phillips -known for his work in Old School, Starsky and Hutch, and Road Trip- knew Cooper’s potential, and was 100% sure that the actor was a born leader and ready to prove it.

“I was really impressed with him (Todd),” says Cooper. “He has this ability to know what he likes and wants, and then get the most of of people.

“It definitely took some convincing from him to help me embrace the role, I just wasn’t feeling it right in the beginning. Phil’s just that guy who reeks of leadership, the guy who everyone turns to to solve everything.”

It’s a funny predicament considering Cooper is one of those actors who you would call a total contrast to their characters on-screen. Sure, his resume of roles in films tend to be the cocky, rowdy ringleaders, but here at the Windsor Arms hotel in Toronto, the guy couldn’t be more gentle and sincere if he tried. Beats him why he’s usually cast as the “jerk,” but Cooper explains how the character in The Hangover is different.

“You eventually realize,” says the actor, “that Phil doesn’t really go there to sleep with hookers and stuff, but that he’s an elementary school teacher and also a caring father.”

“He used to be a party guy- with the girls, booze and Vegas- but now he’s going along with the ride and trying to make his friend’s bachelor night the greatest. His buddies mean everything to him.”

Cooper found he was able relate to that kind of character, as those were the kinds of figures he had in his life as a kid growing up in an Italian/Irish family in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania.

“I knew fathers like that,” says Cooper, who would later on graduate with a B.A. in English from Georgetown University in 1997, and then a Masters in Fine Arts from the Actors Studio at New School University.

“You know they talk the big game, but they’re at every little league game, they have complete love and care for their children.”

With an initiation into the business in a 1998 episode on Sex and the City, Cooper has since then managed to swiftly maneuver through times as a supporting guy in someone else ’s hit movie- whether it be Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn’s Wedding Crashers, Matthew McConaughey’s Failure to Launch or Jim Carrey’s Yes Man.

This time though, with the scales tipped in his favor, Cooper was the one fortunate to have a thriving supporting cast:  fresh up-and-coming faces like Helms (NBC’s The Office), Zach Galifianakis (The Comedy Network) and Justin Bartha (National Treasure).

“Such funny guys,” says Cooper. “I tell you, we had such great chemistry, we played off each other perfectly.”

Stuck in Vegas for a month-and-a-half in the Fall, it was a combo destined to get lucky. But despite the endless entertaining opportunities in Sin City, Cooper reveals that with exhausting 16 hour work days, the crew rarely indulged and went out on the town.

“We never had anytime to go out after shooting,” he explains. “It was a lot of work, we would just get some sleep.”

Well almost. “We did crash Nick Cannon’s birthday party though,” Cooper says with a smirk, referring to the party hosted by Cannon’s wife Mariah Carey at PURE nightclub.

However, on cue, the actor refrains from elaborating on any further details, and only gives the age-old mantra “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”

Related posts:

1. Bradley Cooper Agrees Ryan Gosling Should Be ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ Instead
2. Bradley Cooper is the Sexiest Man Alive
3. The Hangover II Trailer is Released

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