Bradley Cooper reveals why he was afraid of his role in Sex and the City

Today, 49-year-old Bradley Cooper is one of Hollywood's biggest stars, but of course it wasn't always that way. As part of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the actor recalled his first television role - a small appearance in the cult series Sex and the City. Cooper says he was terribly scared at the time. According to him, even today he still remembers playing the character of Jake.

The actor, who was working as a hotel doorman at the time, actually auditioned for the role, but he said he didn't realize he could ever act in a movie.

"I was really scared when I got the call to do it: 'What do you mean I really have to do it?'" Cooper recalls.

At the time, Cooper couldn't drive a manual car, but was required to do so as part of his role. In this regard, he was sent to driving school.

"And I still screwed up," he jokes, "So they let someone else drive and I had to pretend we were going to stop. As scary as it all was at first, in the end it was so much fun and Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker was "amazing."

As part of the film festival, 60-year-old Brad Pitt presented his friend Cooper with the award for best actor of the year in the biopic “Maestro.” At this year's Academy Awards, which takes place on March 10, the star could also be hoping to win the Best Actor award. Cooper plays conductor Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) in the film, and also directs and co-writes the screenplay.