Two huge Hollywood names, and yet their relationship largely flew under the radar — but it’s true, Bradley Cooper and Renée Zellweger were in a serious relationship for a significant chunk of time way back when.
Both talented, well-respected and easy on the eyes, they could have been a great match, so what went wrong? Let’s delve through the celebrity relationship archives once more, where bootcut jeans and deleted tweets roam free …
How it Began
They met on a movie set but, despite such big names being attached, there’s a strong chance you haven’t seen the film in question. Horror movie Case 39 was shot in 2006, with Cooper and Zellweger playing best friends. After various setbacks, the project finally got its release in 2009 — and it was only then, on the promo trail, that the romance blossomed (maybe they even bonded over all the decidedly lukewarm reviews?)
By then, Cooper was just becoming a big star, after breaking through in The Hangover, while Zellweger, six years his senior, was already seriously A-list.
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How Long it Lasted
Two very low-key years. They broke up in 2011 but, over the course of their relationship, they were only photographed together a handful of times and never officially confirmed the romance. Zellweger was still only a few years out from her five-month marriage to country singer Kenny Chesney, and understandably more cautious about going public with her personal life.
In 2010, People reported that the couple attended the Sundance Film Festival together, as well as spending a lot of time hanging out at Cooper’s new home in Pacific Palisades, California. And this clearly wasn’t a casual thing — Zellweger was even photographed shopping at CVS with Cooper’s mom, Gloria. And when Cooper sadly lost his dad in January 2011, Zellweger skipped the Golden Globes to spend time with him in his native Pennsylvania.
At one point, there were even engagement rumors, which their reps denied — while cleverly still not confirming the relationship.
How it Ended
There were rumors of tension in February 2011 when the couple didn’t spend much time together at a pre-Oscars party but, a few weeks later, Zellweger went along to the Inside The Actor’s Studio set to support her man.
By March, it was confirmed that the non-couple-couple had split after two years — and sources told Us Weekly at the time that their careers were to blame. “If I had to pick any possible mistress, it would be Brad’s career,” a source told Us. “He worked really hard to get into leading man status. Renée had to take a backseat. She’s accomplished a lot of her professional goals, so Renée took some time out to be a great girlfriend and see if this is what it took to make a relationship work.”
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What They Said About Each Other
When Details asked Cooper about the relationship in 2009, his response was a disappointingly unjuicy “I just can’t” but, on occasion, the secretive duo did break cover to be nice about each other.
“He’s a great actor,” Zellweger told Entertainment Tonight in 2009. “I just got so excited, not believing that I was going to go to work with him.”
Cooper chipped in, “I can’t say enough about her. I just love her. I [loved] coming to work. I love acting with her. I can learn so much from her.” Sure, sure, it’s just her acting he loved …
What They Say Now
While neither party has talked directly about the relationship since (man, they’re good at this!), clearly there’s no major drama — in 2020, they were all smiles at the Oscars, chatting together with no side-eye or negative body language. So mature!
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Key Relationship Takeaways
It’s interesting that, since dating Zellweger, now 56, Cooper, now 50, has largely gone for younger, slightly less high-profile women, including Suki Waterhouse, Irina Shayk (they share a daughter, born in 2017) and now, of course, Gigi Hadid, 20 years his junior.
Zellweger, meanwhile, has finally shed her “unlucky in love” Bridget Jones reputation, since she’s been in a “cherished relationship” (according to her reps) with British TV personality (and ex of Christina Haack) Ant Anstead since 2021.
