Bradley Cooper Says He 'Cried a Lot' Watching Rocket Raccoon's Story in Guardians of the Galaxy

“I love Rocket Raccoon so much,” the actor said during a Q&A at the Santa Barbara Film Festival

Bradley Cooper will always have a special place in his heart Guardians of the Galaxy.

Cooper voiced the beloved Rocket Raccoon in multiple Marvel Cinematic Universe films starting with Guardians of the Galaxy back in 2014. He reflected on his character — a raccoon who underwent harrowing experiments — during a Q&A at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, where he was awarded Best Performer of the Year for his work in Maestro.

“I love Rocket Raccoon so much,” Cooper said. “And I love doing that third one [Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3] because [that’s] when James [Gunn] he told me what the origin story would be. I got so excited I cried a lot.” Cooper praised Gunn for making the process fun.

Check out the cast of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ In and out of costume

Rocket Raccoon.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/ Everett

“It’s the biggest, and James is beautiful, and we’d actually do it as a play. And we were trying to figure out how best to do it because I do the voiceover after the movie’s already shot, and the scenes would be shown first, and then at the end James just read all the other parts, and we’d do it as a play, and it was actually a lot of fun,” he said.

Making it to the third and final film of the MCU franchise was something he also thought he would never accomplish.

“He just kept on giving. I couldn’t believe it. We made the first one. Never in a million years would we have thought I’d be playing him for over a decade,” he said. “It’s crazy.”

Bradley Cooper.

Tibrina Hobson/Getty

Brad Pitt presents ‘The One and Only’ Bradley Cooper at the 2024 Santa Barbara Film Festival.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 premieres in theaters on May 5, 2023. During a special pre-release screening, franchise star Chris Pratt, who plays Star-Lord/Peter Quill, told PEOPLE that the cast plans to stay in touch via a group text thread.

“I know the text threads are going to continue and stay strong. We’re going to check in on each other, like marriages and families and all the things in life that happen. We’re going to be there for each other,” he told PEOPLE. Pratt said the cast became close during the filming of the franchise and “went through a lot.”

(L-R) Chukwudi Iwuji, Karen Gillan, Chris Pratt, Miriam Shor and Bradley Cooper. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Disney

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“It’s Pomo’s time [Klementieff] birthday today. She’s down in Miami. We are a very close cast. We’ve all been through a lot. James is one of my dearest friends and that’s the kind of relationship I will continue to cherish,” he told PEOPLE.

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