--- description: Actor Bradley Cooper tells People that playing former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle in 'American Sniper' was a life-changing experience. title: Bradley Cooper Says 'American Sniper' Role Was Life-Changing image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Bradley Cooper Says _American Sniper_ Role Was Life-Changing ## Video: 10 Questions with American Sniper Chris Kyle [Watch (HLS stream): 10 Questions with American Sniper Chris Kyle](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PpZTJML8.m3u8) (6:10)  _Published 2012-01-05. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, who earned two Silver Stars in Iraq, explains the sniper's point of view_ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 28, 2015 8:07 PM CUT by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 28, 2015 8:07 PM CUT Actor Bradley Cooper says in [a new interview with _People_](http://www.people.com/article/bradley-cooper-american-sniper-chris-kyle-life-changing "undefined") that playing former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle in _American Sniper_ was a life-changing experience. Cooper, who has been visiting veterans nationwide, admits he has always respected military men and women but never fully realized the toll it can take on their families. He called playing Kyle “life-changing,” and says he’s gratified that people are responding well to the film. “People were willing to express themselves in a format that they would never do normally,” Cooper adds. “But because they saw Chris’s story, they were willing to say, ‘Thank you for putting a guy I can relate to up there and have it be something right away that I know is accurate.'” Read more at [PEOPLE](http://www.people.com/article/bradley-cooper-american-sniper-chris-kyle-life-changing "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3686428/bradley-cooper-american-sniper/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3686428/bradley-cooper-american-sniper/"},"headline":"Bradley Cooper Says American Sniper Role Was Life-Changing","datePublished":"2015-01-28T20:07:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:57:12.983Z","description":"Actor bulked up to play former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle","url":"https://time.com/3686428/bradley-cooper-american-sniper/","keywords":["celebrities","Military","Veterans","bradley cooper","film","American Sniper"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3686428/bradley-cooper-american-sniper/","name":"Bradley Cooper Says American Sniper Role Was Life-Changing"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"10 Questions with American Sniper Chris Kyle","description":"Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, who earned two Silver Stars in Iraq, explains the sniper's point of view","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/PpZTJML8/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2012-01-05T23:07:27.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PpZTJML8.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3686428/bradley-cooper-american-sniper/","duration":"PT6M10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3686428/bradley-cooper-american-sniper/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```