Bradley Cooper finds it "soothing" to be around food.
The 40-year-old actor has had a busy schedule over the last few years, starring in hit films including American Hustle and Guardians of the Galaxy.
During his downtime Bradley enjoys practising his skills in the kitchen, but for his role as chef Adam Jones in upcoming movie Burnt he realised there was a lot to learn.
"When I was a kid I would screw up cooking with my grandmother," he told Yahoo Movies. "It was an Italian family, so cooking was a huge part of it. Being around food is very soothing to me. My grandfather had a garlic business. I grew up with that environment, and it reminds me of my childhood... I actually learnt how much I can’t cook by doing this film."
Bradley studied celebrity chefs including Gordon Ramsay, Marco Pierre White and Clare Smyth for inspiration with his part. His alter ego Adam is trying to gain three Michelin stars for his London restaurant after destroying his career with drugs and other destructive behaviour.
Although Burnt was filmed in between two big jobs, last year's (14) American Sniper and his stint in play The Elephant Man, Bradley already had basic knowledge.
"I didn’t have as much time to prep, but I was able to spend a month living and breathing it," he added. "(But) the thing that really paid off was the fact that I’d been doing research since I was a kid, working in restaurants."
The star still felt pressure on set though, especially as he had chef Marcus Wareing overlooking things. To add to the atmosphere of a busy kitchen, all the extras were real cooks and Bradley had to master his techniques in order to boss them about.
With his love of food even stronger now, he has even got into the habit of growing his own goods.
"I just started a little garden, which is like heaven," he smiled. "I’m just picking vegetables, you know - real old man stuff. Really, not very cool stuff."
