Jessica Chastain recalls how Bradley Cooper was ‘horrified’ after encounter with grandmother

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Washington Bureau Chief

Jessica Chastain has recounted a brilliantly awkward exchange between her grandmother and Bradley Cooper at a party.

While appearing on the latest episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the star shared a story about her grandmother Marilyn Herst approaching Cooper when they were all at Chastain’s house.

“I’ve been trying to get her dates for a long time. I mean, it’s been maybe 15 years, 20 years… I used to take pictures of her and put them on Match.com,” said Chastain, whose grandmother moved in with her in April 2020 during lockdown.

“I worked with Al Pacino, she was very excited about that; I took a picture of the two of them together and it was on her bedside table. Matthew McConaughey, she was stoked.”

Chastain added: “A few years ago I had a party at my house and Bradley Cooper was there. My grandmother is now at the age where she just really doesn’t care, you know? She’s just like, ‘I’m just gonna do whatever I want.’

“So in the middle of the party, she just walked over to Bradley and just sat on his lap. He looked horrified, actually. He had never met her. He didn’t know who she was.”

She continued: “I saw it kinda happening in slow motion where I was like, ‘No!’ I just started going, ‘It’s my grandma! It’s my grandma!’ Then he was like, ‘Okay. Hi, Grandma...’”

Chastain can next be seen in the action thriller The 355, out in UK cinemas on 7 January.

The film also stars Lupita Nyong’o, Penelope Cruz and Diane Kruger. It follows four secret agents as they try to retrieve a weapon that’s fallen into mercenary hands.