To convincingly portray Navy SEAL Chris Kyle in "American Sniper," Bradley Cooper undertook a significant physical transformation. This involved gaining approximately 40 pounds to match Kyle's burly physique. Cooper's dedication to the role extended beyond acting, requiring a rigorous diet and workout regimen.
The Goal: Becoming Chris Kyle
Bradley Cooper aimed to embody Chris Kyle, the Navy SEAL credited with a record 160 confirmed kills in Iraq. Cooper stated, "I had to get to the point where I believed I was him. At 185 pounds, it would’ve been a joke." The challenge wasn't just about gaining weight, but achieving a specific type of bigness that reflected Kyle's physical presence. "Chris wasn’t ripped," Cooper said. "He wasn’t sinewy. He was just a bear."
The Trainer: Jason Walsh
To achieve this transformation, Cooper enlisted the help of celebrity trainer Jason Walsh, owner of Rise Nation in West Hollywood. Walsh's clientele includes Jessica Biel, Jennifer Garner, and Ben Affleck. Actor John Krasinski, who was shooting a comedy with Cooper in Hawaii, connected Cooper to Walsh. Krasinski, playing a muscled-up military man, served as a point of comparison. Cooper's character, in contrast, "was a guy who’d been basically in traction," requiring no training.
Walsh emphasized a holistic approach, addressing Cooper's pre-existing back and shoulder problems rather than working around them. "When clients come in and they have issues, we don’t work around the issues," Walsh stated. Drawing from his experience at the University of North Carolina, where he worked with Olympic athletes, Walsh focused on "true training" that prioritizes longevity and functionality. He noted that athletes are more accustomed to pushing through pain than actors.
The Workout: Twice-Daily Sessions
Walsh started Cooper off with corrective movements, as he would with an athlete. They trained twice a day. The second workout, late in the afternoon, was more focused on traditional muscle-building exercises. Cooper needed both types of training to convincingly portray Chris Kyle.
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Walsh relied heavily on unilateral exercises, like Bulgarian split squats, starting with body weight only and building up from there. By the end of their program, Cooper had worked up to heavy rack pulls, a deadlift variation using a hex bar that starts a few inches above the floor. At his peak, Cooper could crank out five sets of 8 reps with more than 400 pounds-close to double his body weight. Director Clint Eastwood even uses it in the movie, in a workout scene.
The Diet: A Caloric Surplus
All that training would’ve accomplished little without lots and lots of food, more than 5,000 calories a day. “Bradley was coming off a movie where he had to be smaller,” Walsh says. “We had to force-feed him." Cooper agreed, "It was a real shock to my body. If it’s pizza and cake, that’s one thing."
Cooper's personal chef prepared five daily meals, but even that wasn’t enough. "Without that kind of caloric intake and the ability to recover, he probably wouldn’t have made it," Walsh says. "American Sniper" writer-producer Jason Hall revealed to People magazine that Cooper "was eating about every 55 minutes" and that "he was determined to do it naturally, he didn't want to use any hormones or steroids or anything. He was just very systematic about it and took his trainer with him wherever he went."
Visualizing 8,000 Calories
Bradley Cooper reportedly consumed a staggering 8,000 calories a day to bulk up for his role. To visualize this immense intake, nutritionist Dana James created a sample meal plan:
- Breakfast (1,954 calories): 1 cup of granola with ¾ cup of whole milk (660 calories) and a smoothie made with 1 cup full fat coconut milk, 2 tbsp coconut oil, 1 avocado, 1 tbsp chia seeds, and 1 scoop whey protein (1,294 calories).
- Morning Snack (925 calories): 5 ounces of walnuts.
- Lunch (2,214 calories): 1.5 servings of Laksa Soup.
- Afternoon Snack (761 calories): Yogurt bowl with 1 cup full fat Greek yogurt, 1 cup strawberries, ½ cup almonds, 1 tbsp ground flaxseed, and 1 tsp honey.
- Dinner (1,728 calories): Burger with cheddar cheese, a multigrain roll, veggies, and sauces (600 calories), medium serving of fries with ketchup (497 calories), 1 dinner roll with butter (231 calories), ¾ cup roasted green beans (150 calories), and 2 glasses of red wine (250 calories).
- Dessert (488 calories): Large brownie with a scoop of premium vanilla ice cream.
This meal plan demonstrates that consuming 8,000 calories doesn't necessarily require a diet full of junk food. Healthy ingredients can quickly add up, highlighting the importance of portion control.
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Beyond Physicality: Vocal Training and Rifle Skills
Cooper's preparation extended beyond diet and exercise. He also underwent twice-daily lessons with a vocal coach and spent hours studying footage of Chris Kyle. To master the use of a rifle, Cooper trained with Kevin Lacz, a Navy SEAL sniper who served with Kyle and was a consultant on the movie.
The Transformation: A Temporary Change
Cooper found life as a heavyweight to be a revelation. “It changes absolutely everything,” he says. “It changes the way you walk, the way people relate to you. If someone bumps into you on the sidewalk, they kind of ricochet off. There were also downsides, like outgrowing his entire wardrobe, and wearing a pair of pants with an elastic waist almost every day. “Even my hands got bigger,” he says. “I wear my father’s wedding ring, and I couldn’t wear that anymore.
The transformation, though, was temporary. Soon after American Sniper wrapped, Cooper had to take the weight off for his next role, in which he plays a chef. “I shed about 15 pounds in three weeks,” he says. The benefits of being himself again-eating normally, wearing his own clothes-don’t erase the satisfaction of having been a much larger self, at least for a while. “I knew this was going to be the way in to playing Chris, and it felt amazing,” he says.
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