Bradley Cooper's 'Abbott Elementary' Cameo Is Drawing Criticism After He Made This Award Show Move
When Bradley Cooper landed a cameo on the post-Oscars episode of Abbott Elementary, there was quite a bit of praise for his comedic performance playing himself. As the Primetime Emmys season draws closer, the 49-year-old actor is looking toward a possible nomination for his brief (and we mean brief) stint on the series.
Variety confirmed that Cooper submitted his clip for a nomination in the guest actor in a comedy category. The big question about his one-minute and 56-second scene is whether he’s actually eligible due to rule changes by the Television Academy, the governing body that runs the award show. The rule states, “A brief cameo appearance is not eligible for entry,” but there’s a mathematical catch to this equation that seems to make Cooper’s submission legit. “The minimum stand-alone and contiguous screen time (performer has an ongoing engagement in the scene, on or off camera) for eligibility is 5% of the total running time of the submitted episode,” per the Emmys guidelines. That’s good news for the 12-time Oscar nominee because the 20-minute and 30-second episode gives him almost double that percentage.
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It no secret that Cooper campaigned hard for his Maestro Oscar nomination earlier this year which sometimes left fans with a bad taste in their mouths because it felt too extra. His strict on-set rule for the film, which he also directed, resulted in social media crying foul. “When I direct, I don’t watch playback. There’s no chairs. I’ve always hated chairs on sets; your energy dips the minute you sit down in a chair. There’s no video village,” he said in Variety ‘s “Directors on Directors” interview with Spike Lee. He was described as a “try-hard” by Vox, which noted that he had “suddenly become insufferably self-serious.”
Of course, X users are also chiming in about Cooper’s Emmys submission in the golden age of television because it feels like a complete reach — anything for a nomination. One user wrote, “He is desperate for any award. Someone get him a participation trophy immediately.” Another account added, “I am embarrassed for him.” There is always a voice of reason in the crowd, who has a solid explanation of what could have occurred. They wrote, “To be fair, a lot of actors reps do this, often times without them even being aware. When I worked in PR, we would submit clients for all sorts of awards during award season, often times without even letting them know.”
Cooper hasn’t commented about his Emmys submission, but the headlines probably don’t help his cause, especially in a very crowded field of contenders. Kevin Hart, who also had a short cameo on the ABC series, did not submit himself for consideration, but that doesn’t mean less screen time won’t earn you an Emmy. Just ask Claire Foy, who won as the guest actress in a drama category for The Crown in 2021. She only clocked one minute and 49 seconds in the 53-minute episode, but by the 2024 rules, she wouldn’t even be eligible.
Before you go, click here to see the most shocking Emmy awards moments in primetime history.
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