AGE: 27. HOMETOWN: Philadelphia, PA. HANGIN' WITH MR. COOPER: This fall, Bradley Cooper returns for a second season on the megahit TV series "Alias," playing in-way-over-his-head newsman Will Tippin, friend/lovelorn secret admirer of superspy Sydney Bristow (played by Jennifer Garner).
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"Will was totally transformed in the season finale," Cooper says (his character's snooping was a little too effective, and he was tortured for his trouble). "This year he's got to pick up all the pieces." He can also be seen in the upcoming indie My Little Eye and in the Hallmark movie The Last Cowboy. AN ELEPHANT NEVER FORGOTTEN: The budding star decided he wanted to go into acting long before he studied at the Actors Studio Drama School in New York. "When I was 12 I saw David Lynch's The Elephant Man and my whole body just cringed at John Hurt's performance. I was like, 'Oh my God. I wanna be in that world!'" BRAD WEATHER: Though he's suffered from slams on "Alias" Internet message boards ("Jesus, God--they say horrible things about you!"), was involved in the high-profile flop "The Street" (it was axed after just six episodes) and was completely cut from a big Ben Affleck movie (Changing Lanes), Cooper remains upbeat. "You have to fight the anxiety," he says. "It's like, you wake up Monday morning and the first thing you think about is, 'What were the ratings for last night?' But the more you immerse yourself in the business side, the farther you get away from why you started in the first place."
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Daniel Davis