Bradley Cooper visited ‘Abbott Elementary’ on Oscar Sunday
The actor joined fellow Philly native Quinta Brunson on the ABC sitcom right after the award ceremony ended (on time).
Khalil, in Melissa Schemmenti’s second-grade class, saw Bradley Cooper in a deli and figured he’s famous because “everyone wanted to take a picture with him.”
Cooper made a surprise appearance Sunday night — both on the post-Oscar episode of the ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary, which usually airs on Wednesday nights, and in the fictional Schemmenti’s classroom.
“You are Bradley Cooper. Why are you Bradley Cooper?” the schoolteacher, played by Lisa Ann Walter, said before correcting herself and texting the other teachers. “Why are you here?” she asked.
Turns out, the Montco native and Oscar-nominated director and actor was just visiting “the deli across the street” to get what his dad told him were “the best hoagies in the city.”
“So when my friend here asked me to come by I had a minute so I thought what the heck,” Cooper said in the show.
Cooper’s Maestro, on the life of Leonard Bernstein, was nominated for seven Oscars, including best picture and best actress. But, as witnessed in the awards ceremony, which aired right before the special Abbott episode, the film failed to win any awards.
In the episode, the actor wore a Cassius Clay ‘64 jacket — a drastic change from the Louis Vuitton black, wide-legged tuxedo he wore to the awards ceremony. He endured some lighthearted ribbing, met educator Janine Teagues (played by fellow Philadelphian Quinta Brunson), who confessed that her favorite Cooper movie was the 2019 rom-com He’s Just Not That Into You ( “It’s more of an ensemble,” Cooper said). Schemmenti chose Alias, even though Cooper pointed out he wasn’t quite the face of the 2001 TV thriller series.
“Yeah, you were to me,” she insisted.
As the teachers debated if the actor actually stars in Oppenheimer (he doesn’t) and The Holdovers (again, no), the students were curious if the actor’s fame is even warranted: “If you’re famous, are you in Spider-Man?” Khalil’s classmate asked him. The actor finally resorts to doing his Rocket Raccoon voice from Guardians of the Galaxy to save face.
Cooper made it a point to note that public schools are underfunded.
“Yeah. I’m working on it,” Janine said to him before taking a quick group picture with the actor so she could “tell everyone in the district” about Cooper’s visit.
Back in the real world, Brunson and Sheryl Lee Ralph (who plays the teacher Barbara Howard) attended the Vanity Fair post-Oscars party while Cooper decided to take it easy and skip the party.
Two crucial questions remain.
One, as Cooper asks in the episode, will Khalil get an A for his show-and-tell?
Two, where is this hoagie spot?