Hollywood legends Bradley Cooper & Leonardo DiCaprio are eerily similar – from model flings to off-screen controversy
THEY’RE two of Hollywood’s biggest stars, but Leonardo DiCaprio and Bradley Cooper have more in common than their talent.
Someone who’s clearly noticed the similarities is model Gigi Hadid.
The 28-year-old bounced out of an on-off relationship with Leo, 48, and straight into the arms of Bradley, also 48.
Both men have dated some of the most beautiful women in the world, but who is the biggest catch?
From doting on their mums to being put up for the same film roles, there is little to separate them.
Hayley Minn looks at their careers and lives off screen to offer her verdict on who is the leading man . . .
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The girlfriends
BOTH actors have an eye for the ladies – with a penchant for supermodels – yet neither has settled down for long.
Bradley and Gigi have been spotted together in New York City twice in the past few days.
The pair are said to be enjoying getting to know each other but keeping things casual.
Gigi, who only ended her year-long, on-off fling with Leo last month, has apparently “always had a crush on Bradley”.
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One of Leo’s longest and most high-profile relationships was with Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen, who he dated between 1999 and 2005.
He’s also had flings with singer Rihanna and actress Blake Lively, as well as numerous Victoria’s Secret models, including Toni Garrn. Many of his girlfriends have been 25 or younger.
But Bradley, People mag’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2011, definitely beats Leo for the amount of A-listers he’s dated.
He went out with Cameron Diaz from 2007 to 2008, Renee Zellweger from 2009 to 2011, Jennifer Lopez and Olivia Wilde in 2011, Zoe Saldana from 2011 to 2012, and Suki Waterhouse from 2013 to 2015, as well as Glee’s Dianna Agron last year.
Bradley’s longest relationship was with Russian model Irina Shayk, from 2015 to 2019. The pair have six-year-old daughter Lea.
VERDICT: Bradley’s A-list exes win
Movies and awards
LEO began acting as a youngster and was only 19 when he made his breakthrough opposite Johnny Depp in 1993’s What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.
It won him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor – the first of six nods in the Best Actor or Supporting Actor categories.
But it was not until 2016 that he finally won his only Academy Award to date, scooping the Best Actor gong for The Revenant.
Leo has also moved into producing, including 2013’s Oscar-nominated The Wolf Of Wall Street, which he also starred in.
Bradley didn’t get his big break until his mid-30s, landing the lead in 2009 hit comedy The Hangover.
He has since been nominated for four Best Actor or Supporting Actor Oscars, but not taken the prize home.
He has produced and/or directed 11 films, including three that were Oscar-nominated: 2018’s A Star Is Born, 2019’s Joker and 2021’s Nightmare Alley, which Leo was originally meant to star in.
When it comes to musical roles, Bradley pips Leo, winning two Grammys for A Star Is Born, and he was nominated for a Tony stage gong in 2015 after star- ring in The Elephant Man on Broadway.
VERDICT: And the winner is . . . Leo
Wealth
BOTH the A-listers are raking in the cash.
Leo is worth an estimated £250million, helped by a reported £23million for his role in 2021 Netflix comedy Don’t Look Up.
He has advertising deals with luxury watchmaker Tag Heuer, and bourbon brand Jim Beam, and has invested in plant-based food company Beyond Meat and vegan leather brand VitroLabs.
His property portfolio includes a private island off the coast of Belize.
Bradley usually commands around £15million a movie now and has an estimated worth of £100million.
He has homes in New York and Venice and boosted his bank balance by becoming Louis Vuitton’s first watch ambassador.
VERDICT: Leo all way to bank
Controversies
THEY may be Hollywood golden boys, but they have not been without their controversies.
It has become a running joke that Leo will not date anyone over 25 – no matter how old he gets.
This year he was asked to testify in court when Low Taek Jho, usually known as Jho Low, was accused of masterminding a money laundering and bribery scheme that stole billions from the Malaysian state.
Low was one of the primary financiers of Leo’s movie The Wolf Of Wall Street and became a regular contributor to his charitable foundation.
Bradley’s biggest controversy came earlier this year when the trailer for his film Maestro, in which he stars as Jewish composer Leonard Bernstein, was released.
Non-Jewish Bradley was accused by many of performing in “Jewface”, as he was wearing a prosthetic nose.
However, Bernstein’s family defended the decision – despite the fact Bradley never wore prosthetics while playing the Elephant Man.
Bradley also faced criticism while promoting A Star Is Born after he was accused of getting too close to co-star Lady Gaga despite being in a relationship with Irina Shayk.
Things looked like they were getting extremely steamy when they performed their song Shallow at the Oscars in 2019.
Irina and him split soon after, raising even more eyebrows.
But both Bradley and Gaga have insisted that their Oscar performance was nothing more than them acting like the couple they portrayed in the movie.
VERDICT: You lose, Leo
Mummy’s boys
BOTH actors are extremely close to their mums and regularly bring them along to red carpets.
Bradley even lives with his mum Gloria, having moved back home in 2011 after his father Charles was diagnosed with aggressive lung cancer.
He has continued to live there since his dad’s death that same year.
In 2013, he explained: “We need each other. So here we are. But don’t get me wrong, it’s not without complications.
“It’s not like I live in a compound and she’s in the guesthouse. No. She’s in the next room.
“But here’s the thing: She’s a cool chick. We can hang, and she can roll with the punches. If that wasn’t the case, there’s no way.”
Gloria also appeared in an advert for T-Mobile with Bradley during the Super Bowl in February.
Meanwhile, in his Bafta acceptance speech for The Revenant in 2016, Leo said he “would not be standing up here if it weren’t for” his mum, Irmelin Indenbirken, who raised him as a single parent in Los Angeles.
German-born Irmelin has always been fiercely protective of her son, especially in the early years of his fame when she often put herself between him and the paparazzi.
In 2019 she was spotted soaking Leo’s nosy fans with a hose when his new house in LA became a stop on a bus tour of celebrity properties.
VERDICT: Both No1 sons
Activism
LEO has long been an advocate for environmental issues, establishing the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation in 1998 to help protect the Earth’s last wild places.
He also serves on the board of several eco organisations, including the World Wildlife Fund.
In 2014 he received the Clinton Global Citizen Award for his philanthropic work.
Bradley supports many charities that help fight cancer, including Hole In the Wall Gang Camp and the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, which he helped launch.
He also does a lot of work with the Alzheimer’s Association.
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But while many are boycotting premieres due to the actors’ strike, Bradley was in the audience for a screening of his film Maestro.
VERDICT: Keep up good work, boys