Bradley Cooper Keeps in Touch with 'American Sniper' Chris Kyle's Family: 'He's the Type of Person Who Stays' (Exclusive)

Now 19 and 18, Colton and McKenna Kyle open up publicly about their hero dad and seeing 'American Sniper' for the first time two years ago — with Bradley Cooper

Long after filming wrapped on American Sniper and the fanfare surrounding the blockbuster’s box office success and six Academy Award nominations quieted down, the film’s star, Bradley Cooper, would take time to check in with the family whose lives were portrayed onscreen.

“We’ve stayed in touch over the years quite a bit,” says Taya Kyle, the widow of the Navy SEAL Chris Kyle.

"Bradley will always be tied to me in a way that connects me to what Chris lost in being able to represent himself after his death in 2013," Taya, 49, tells PEOPLE.

"As we reflect on the past, I see that although Bradley is tied to my past, he is the type of person who stays," she says. "He has seen me through every stage of grief. I look forward to our friendship into the future with less of my pain from the past and more of the beauty that lies ahead."

Ever-protective of Colton and McKenna, her children with Chris, Taya waited until they were older to show them the movie about their late father, who became known as “The Legend” for his 160 confirmed kills while protecting his fellow soldiers.

Colton, 19, and McKenna, 18, saw the film for the first time with Cooper, who invited them to watch it with him at his New York home in 2022.

“He’s been a friend over the years,” Colton says in this week’s issue of PEOPLE.

Related: 'American Sniper' Chris Kyle’s Children Speak About Their Hero Dad’s Death for First Time: 'I've Grown So Much' (Exclusive) 

“I know him for who he is as a person, and I appreciate that," says Colton, who is speaking publicly for the first time about his hero father, how the movie impacted him and his future plans. "He’s a good guy.”

The fact that Cooper just happens to be one of the most well-known actors in the world is just a fun extra.

For more about Taya, Colton and McKenna Kyle, subscribe now to PEOPLE or pick up this week's issue, on newsstands Friday.

“For me, it was watching a movie with a friend who just so happens to be famous,” says Colton, who has recently assumed stewardship over the American Sniper apparel brand in honor of his father.

McKenna is volunteering as social media representative for Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn on Instagram.

Taya just released her first children's book, Prayers for Bears: Bailey the Grateful Bear, based on the family's experiences.

Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, American Sniper depicts Chris in the throes of war. But it also shows the realities of military marriage: how four tours overseas and then re-entering civilian life when he returned home to Texas for good in 2009 affected his relationship with Taya.

Colton has high praise for Cooper’s performance and for how much he looked like his dad. “It was very cool to see how closely he resembled him, especially when they look so different normally.”

“I love it as a movie,” he says. “It's a very cool feeling to think that somebody so close to you has had a movie made about their life.”

At the same time, Colton says it was difficult “reliving my dad’s death and thinking about that.”

After seeing movie, he recalls, “I think we just waited in silence while we cried for a while.”

Screenwriter: 'Taya embraced us'

Cooper had been working with Chris and screenwriter Jason Hall in 2012 to bring the decorated Navy SEAL’s 2012 New York Times bestseller, American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History, to the big screen.

The movie’s trajectory took a tragic turn when Chris, then 38, and his friend, Chad Littlefield, 35, were shot and killed on Feb. 2, 2013, on a Texas gun range by a former Marine they were trying to help.

That changed everything for Cooper, Hall and director Clint Eastwood, who came on board after Chris died.

To make sure the filmmakers got Chris’ story right, Taya opened her home to them, telling them everything she could about her husband's heroics on the battlefield.

“Thankfully Taya embraced us a few days after at the funeral and said, ‘If you guys are going to do this, you’re going to need to get it right,’ ” Hall told PEOPLE previously. She told him, “This is going to play a part, for better or worse, in how my kids remember their dad.”

But she also told them about the realities of military marriage — how difficult it is to maintain a long-distance relationship with someone in constant near-death situations who had trouble returning to civilian life.

Related: 'American Sniper' 's Chris & Taya Kyle: Their Love Story

Eastwood and Cooper spent time getting to know Taya and the children before they began filming. Taya said she was touched when Eastwood took her aside to tell her how much the movie meant to him.

“He was a little choked up,” Taya told PEOPLE previously. “He said, ‘I just want you to know that your story has my heart.’ I can’t ask for better than that because I feel like this is what it’s all about. It’s about the heart of the men and women who serve and have served — and their families.

“I hope people understand they really are signing up for something that not many of us would. That takes an incredible amount of heart," she added.

Taya tells PEOPLE she appreciates how Cooper has been there for her and the kids for more than a decade.

"Bradley puts so much into his work," she says. "It was evident with the way he honored Chris in American Sniper. He continued to honor Chris with his openness in my kids and my life."

Cooper told PEOPLE previously he was “gratified” that the film, which shows the Kyles struggle during Chris’ deployments and after he left the military, resonated with veterans.

“People who see it can relate to it and go, ‘Well, if he goes through that, then maybe it’s okay that I’m going through that. If his family had to deal with that stuff, then maybe I am not alone,’" says Cooper.

"That’s a lot of what Chris was doing when he got home. He was telling his story," Cooper adds. "He got his life together, and a lot of that is when he found a purpose in being able to help vets.”

Cooper also said his Best Actor nod for playing Chris carried extra weight.

“I would be lying if I said I didn’t get emotional when I heard my name and saw Chris’ picture up there,” he said. “I thought, ‘Thank God,’ because I felt the role merited that. I just hoped I did a good enough job for the Academy to recognize that his story is worthy to be a part of these other people’s stories.”

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