How Bradley Cooper Managed to Be a Single Father Carrying on the Legacy of Love from His Late Dad

Over the years, Bradley Cooper has performed in various roles, and he has succeeded in almost every one. But he does one thing daily that we haven’t been privy to: being a father. Bradley is the dad of a 4-year-old girl named Lea from his relationship with Irina Shayk. Despite their breakup, the actor has always gone out of his way to be the best parent he could be, much like his late father was to him.

Bradley and Irina’s passionate romance

Despite being well-known celebrities, Irina Shayk and Bradley Cooper placed a high value on maintaining their privacy, especially when involved in a relationship, and they worked hard to maintain that secret since they first met in 2015.

Cooper and Shayk first crossed paths shortly after Bradley’s breakup from Suki Waterhouse and Shayk’s 5-year romance with soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo was over. They appeared in public for the first time in 2016 after a few months of their romance going unconfirmed. As a pair, they looked completely in love and joyous.

Things took a nice turn for them when Shayk was seen going down the catwalk at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show while sporting a slight baby bump that led people to speculate about her being pregnant. Later, in March 2017, the lovely pair welcomed their first daughter, Lea De Seine Shayk Cooper.

Cooper and Shayk kept a low profile after her birth, keeping her out of the spotlight while still being snapped here and there, spending quality family time together. Despite their busy schedules, they both worked hard to raise their child on their own, refusing to hire a babysitter. Irina claimed, “When I’m with my daughter, I’m 100% a mother, and when she’s with her dad, he’s 100% her dad.”

Their relationship may have ended, but they both take parenting very seriously.

As Cooper was heavily immersed in his work, some reports mentioned that a crisis between the pair began to brew. “They want to stay together for their daughter, but neither of them is very happy.” However, Cooper and Shayk were officially done in 2019, but they were still doing their best for their kid.

While their paths as a couple diverged, Cooper was steadfast in his commitment to raising his daughter as a single parent and making every effort to be a loving father to her. He did so well, in fact, that Shayk praised him for being the outstanding parent he was. “He’s a full-on, hands-on dad,” the model said.

Cooper has repeatedly shown that being a father is the proudest achievement of his life. He showed this in many ways, like when he was just playing with his daughter in public, and a paparazzo snapped the precious moment.

For the actor, becoming a parent and thriving as a single dad has entirely revolutionized him and his life. “Fatherhood is...everything changed,” Cooper confessed. “Every single thing is absolutely shaded by, or brought into glorious colors, by the fact that I get to be a father to a wonderful human being.”

A special father-daughter bonding

Bradley is a multi-award-winning actor with a demanding schedule, but that doesn’t stop him from spending time with Lea and engaging in father-daughter activities. He admitted to liking watching cartoons with his child as “it allowed me to embrace my childlike self without any sort of like, fear of judgment.”

It seems that Bradley has already found happiness with his professional successes. Still, he noted that major situations that once affected him now seem little compared to the joy of parenting his daughter. Thus, he stated, “Having a child, and having a family of my own — which is a miracle and something I’ve always dreamt of — has opened me up even more.”

How his daughter reminds Bradley of his late father

Everything Bradley does for his daughter Lea now reminds him of his father, who passed in 2011 without ever meeting his great-granddaughter. Charles Cooper fought cancer for an extended period, and his son was at his side until his last breath.

Once his father passed, Bradley got candid about his loss, stating, “It’s a new reality, it’s not even one thing, it’s a whole new world. And it was instantaneous. It wasn’t, like, months later. It was like, his last exhale, and I was holding him, and it was like, everything changed.”

When a loved one passes away, we usually re-experience their presence in new connections, just as Bradley experienced with his daughter, “She’s incredible, and I see my father in her quite often.” There have been times Cooper confessed to having stared at his daughter, sensing his father’s presence, “I can’t believe I’m gonna admit this, but I had moments when I was in the room with her, I would say, ’Dad?’ ” Then he added, “There are some moments where she looks just like my father.”

It may melt our hearts when we witness how much this man loves his father and cares so much for his daughter. He unconditionally loves Lea and never misses an opportunity to make her feel that way, “I just always want her to feel loved.”

Do any people you care about resemble those you’ve lost or missed?