Bradley Cooper has shared the terrifying moment he was threatened with a knife as he went to collect his daughter from school.
The actor recounted the incident, which happened in New York City just before the pandemic, in an interview with Dax Shepherd on his Armchair Expert podcast.
The Star Is Born star explained that he was en route to pick up his daughter Lea, who he shares with ex-girlfriend Irina Shayk, from school.
“I used to walk around New York City all the time with these [headphones] on – this was pre-pandemic – I was on the subway [at] 11:45 to pick Lea downtown at Russian school and I got held up at knifepoint,” Bradley recalled.
“It was pretty insane. I realised I had gotten way, way too comfortable in the city. My guard was down … I was all the way at the end of the subway.
“Innately, I would just go all the way down to the end. I felt somebody coming up. I thought, ‘oh they want to take a photo or something’. As I turned, I’m up against the post like it’s the French Connection or some shit, and I turned. I looked down and I see a knife.”
The 46-year-old said the knife was almost three inches long and joked that the entire incident was ‘scored’ to the songs he was listening to through his headphones.
“I can’t remember [what I was listening to]. I look up, I see the person’s eyes, and I’m taken by how young they are,” Bradley continued.
“I jumped over the turnstile, hid around the white, tiled entrance to the subway [and] took my phone out. He jumped over, running away. I took a photo of him. Then I chased him up the stairs. He started running up 7th Avenue. I took two more photographs of him.”
After spotting two police officers in an SUV, the actor showed them the photos he took of the young man.
The officers then told Bradley to check if he had been stabbed, explaining that people often go into shock and don’t immediately realise they have actually been stabbed.
“I looked to see if he was right. … And then I got back on the subway and picked up my daughter,” the actor said.