Bradley Cooper has recalled the terrifying moment he was held at gunpoint.
In the latest episode of the Armchair Expert podcast, the actor revealed he was on his way to pick up his daughter Lea from school in October 2019 when the incident occurred.
The 46-year-old said: “I used to walk around New York City all the time with these [noise-canceling 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.”
“It was pretty insane. I realized I had gotten way, way too comfortable in the city. My guard was down,” he admitted.
“I was all the way at the end of the subway. 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 s***, and I turned. I looked down and I see a knife.”
The GRAMMY winner said the weapon was about “two-and-a-half, three inches” long with a wooden handle.
Bradley continued: “I have my headphones on the whole time. I can’t hear anything. I’m just listening to music. So it’s scored, the whole thing was scored. I look up, I see the person’s eyes, and I’m taken by how young they are.”
He said that despite being “taught” to never run away from a knife, his flight instincts kicked in at that moment and he “just started running” toward the exit.
“I jumped over the turnstile, hid around the white, tiled foyer entrance to the subway [and] took my phone out,” the eight-time Oscar nominee said, recalling that the culprit was “running away” at that point.
“I took a photo of him and then I chased him up the stairs.”
Bradley then flagged down two police officers in an SUV on the street, who were concerned that he may have been stabbed.
He said: “I’m like talking to them, and the guy kept saying—it was so interesting—he’s like, ‘Are you stabbed?’ I was like, ‘No, no.’ He was like, ‘Check to see if you’re stabbed.’ What happens is people get stabbed and they’re in shock.”
The actor said he then “got back on the subway and picked up my daughter”, and added: “It was crazy.”
