Bradley Cooper recalls being 'held up at knifepoint' at NYC subway

"I looked down and I see a knife," Cooper remembered.

November 30, 2021, 10:29 AM

Describing what seems like a scene from a movie, Bradley Cooper revealed he was once "got held up at knifepoint" on a New York City subway.

During Monday's episode of Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast, the 46-year-old actor and filmmaker recounted the terrifying incident.

Cooper, 46, remembered how he "got held up by knifepoint" while on the way to pick up his now 4-year-old daughter, Lea de Seine, from school. He called the experience "pretty insane."

The "A Star Is Born" director said he was "all the way at the end of the subway" when he felt someone's presence.

"I thought, oh, they want to take a photo or something," he continued. "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 eight-time Oscar nominee shared that he couldn't "hear anything" because he had headphones on, but recalled being taken by how "young" the person looked.

Explaining how he got out of the situation, Cooper said, "I just started booking, just started running. 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."

Eventually, the "Guardians of the Galaxy" star was able to flag down two officers, who told Cooper to check himself to make sure he wasn't stabbed in the frenzy.

"What happens is people get stabbed and they’re in shock. I looked to see if he was right," he said. "And then I got back on the subway and picked up my daughter."