Here's Why Bradley Cooper Had to Escort Carey Mulligan from Backstage to the Emergency Room

Bradley Cooper reflects on the striking first meeting with his Maestro co-star, Carey Mulligan. Their paths crossed before sharing the screen in the Oscar-nominated biopic on the late Leonard Bernstein, as they initially connected backstage during one of Mulligan's stage plays. According to PEOPLE, he said, “Carey was in a one-woman show, and I went backstage to meet her and realized something was not right and I insisted on taking her to the emergency room.” Cooper shared this revelation during his appearance on Friday's episode of The Graham Norton Show.

Furthermore, Mulligan explained, “During the show, a bit of set hit me on the head. I carried on but when it was over, I started crying and thought I was a goner." Speaking to host Norton, she mentioned that the audience didn't even notice the mishap, as it occurred during a scheduled blackout of stage lighting. Despite this, she continued with the performance, only to be in tears once it concluded. According to HuffPost, she further said, “I just couldn’t stop crying, and I thought I was really a goner. You know, you get it in your head with a head injury, like, ‘Well that’s it.’ And then I was sobbing on the floor and … someone came in and said, ’Sorry, so sorry — Bradley Cooper [is here].”

She further added, "I was sobbing on the floor when Bradley turned up and, realizing I wasn’t OK, he took me to hospital. You can imagine how delighted the nurse was!” Both already in the spotlight, Cooper with his directorial success in "A Star Is Born" (2018) and Mulligan with an Oscar nomination, their simultaneous presence at the hospital added an extra layer of peculiarity. Mulligan shared with Norton that even the nurse seemed delighted by their unexpected visit. Yet, this incident isn't the sole occasion where Cooper extended help to a fellow esteemed actor.

Cooper found himself by Mulligan's side once again when she needed medical attention during the filming of Maestro. Mulligan, portraying Felicia Montealegre, the wife of composer Leonard Bernstein, had Cooper's support when the doctor arrived on set.  She said, “I was quite ill on set, and a doctor was called to give me antibiotics." She further added, “When I told him I was 12 weeks pregnant, he was not at all convinced… I couldn’t wait to tell the makeup artists how good they were." Moreover, the film unfolds over several years, requiring both of them to don substantial prosthetics at various stages of the filming process.

As Maestro garners acclaim from critics and bags numerous Oscar nominations, including a Best Actress nod for Mulligan and various nominations for Cooper (who directed the film) in categories like Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Picture, the duo finds themselves in the limelight. The Oscars ceremony, scheduled for March 10 on ABC, promises an exciting night. Meanwhile, Cooper's reputation for coming to Mulligan's aid adds to his growing accolades for extending care to fellow celebrities, making it somewhat of a recurring gesture for him.