Bradley Cooper has opened up about being cast in Nightmare Alley, saying he only replaced Leonardo DiCaprio in the role because of his own "insecurity and ego".
The actor spoke about his experience making the movie on Variety's latest episode of 'Actors on Actors'.
Cooper, 47, chatted with Green Book star Mahershala Ali about how he still deals with a lot of professional insecurities.
"Nightmare Alley was an interesting example of how insecure I am," Cooper said.
He went on to explain that despite not planning on acting in anything other than his own project, he couldn't turn down the opportunity to fill DiCaprio's shoes.
"I was like, 'Oh, I guess I still am the guy that wants to be in the group,' because I had no intention of acting in anything other than what I've been writing. Leonardo DiCaprio fell out, and Guillermo del Toro came to me. I still remember thinking, 'Oh wow, the guys that don't hire me, they want to hire me?'" he explained.
"And then it was like, 'Of course, I have to do it just because I've never been allowed into that group.' It was insecurity and ego." the Hangover star said.
Cooper added that even though he got involved with the project because of his own insecurities, it still turned out to be a fantastic role for him.
"Thankfully, it wound up being an incredible experience," he said.
Directed by Guillermo del Toro, Nightmare Alley is a neo-noir psychological thriller based on a 1946 novel of the same name.
The film stars Cooper as Stanton Carlisle, an ambitious but tortured mentalist in the 1940s traveling carnival scene, as well as Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, and Willem Dafoe.
Cooper went on to describe his experience making the film, saying: "that was very interesting to me to play a character, Stanton Carlisle, who has clearly been traumatized as a kid, has no parental foundation, has no foundation for love, intimacy, real connection."
"He just is surviving off of a gratification and a desperate need to find out who he is," the Oscar-nominated actor added.