“I was so lost and I was addicted to cocaine,” Cooper admitted, continuing, “I severed my Achilles tendon right after I got fired-slash-quit Alias” and struggled with “zero self-esteem.” He elaborated about struggles he encountered in his twenties, the person that was instrumental in pulling him out of his dark times, and what he felt his real breakout role was. “I did have the benefit of that happening when I was 29. I thought I made it when I got a Wendy’s commercial,” he recalled, adding that “moving to Los Angeles for Alias [felt] like I was back in high school: I could not get into any clubs, no girls wanted to look at me. I was totally depressed.” In the podcast episode, Cooper also credited Arnett as the friend who helped him get sober, providing the wakeup call he needed. “Will took that risk of having that hard conversation with me in, like, July of 2004, and that put me on a path of deciding to change my life. It truly was Will Arnett—he is the reason.” The actor remembers feeling like he really “made it” once he filmed 2009-comedy, The Hangover. “I was 36 when I did The Hangover, so I got to go through all those things before fame even played into my existence on a daily level. So all that happened before any of that," he said. Arnett commented on Cooper’s “metamorphosis” in confronting his own struggle with addiction. “Having those realizations and having that change allowed you to … that’s what opened you up and allowed you to be you,” he said. Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images The 52-year-old actor and comedian became emotional as he shared how proud he was of Cooper’s progress with learning self-love and becoming a more whole version of himself. “It has been awesome seeing you in this place and seeing you comfortable. Nothing has made me happier,” Arnett said. “It’s made me happy to see you so happy with who you are.” Cooper has been transparent about his struggles with addiction in the past, telling GQ in 2013 that his substance abuse was going to “sabotage [his] whole life” if he did not do what was needed to get healthy. Cooper welcomed his daughter Lea with ex-girlfriend Irina Shayk in March 2017, and credits being a dad and therapy as the reasons he has been able to continue embracing sobriety. “Everything changed,” he said. “Every single thing is absolutely shaded by or brought out in glorious colors by the fact that I get to be a father to a wonderful human being. It’s just the absolute greatest thing.” Next, here’s why Will Arnett never wants to play the real Batman.
