The entire Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy featured its fair share of emotional moments, but Vol. 3 arguably featured the most hard-hitting with its exploration of Rocket Raccoon's origin story.
When a young Rocket attempts to escape from The High Evolutionary's ship, the villain mercilessly kills his friends, prompting the future hero to let out an anguished scream. Now, actor Bradley Cooper has elaborated on how he delivered such a harrowing moment in the recording booth.
Talking to Howard Stern, the actor explained that he relived the death of his father to help him understand how Rocket felt in that moment.
"In this last one...I actually cried like crazy watching it and when we did it, there’s a scene where he loses his friends and...talking about my dad...the sound that Rocket makes, the only thing I can relate it to is the sound I remember hearing my own voice when my dad passed away."
"There’s something that you hear. And I remember when we did it in the sound stage. There was some deep truth to the sound that came out of my mouth and I think that’s part of why that moment in that movie is kind of like, 'Holy Sh*t.'"
Cooper added that he "felt very naked after I did that," revealing how vulnerable it felt to be so honest with his performance as Rocket.
In the video below, the actor also elaborates on his approach to playing Rocket, explaining how he records his lines and the role James Gunn plays in that. Cooper also says he "loves" playing the character, so we're sure he isn't planning to say goodbye to the MCU anytime soon, even with the Guardians franchise's director now heading to the DCU.
In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, our beloved band of misfits are looking a bit different these days. Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him to defend the universe along with protecting one of their own. A mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them.
Gunn writes and directs Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, featuring Vin Diesel as Groot, Bradley Cooper as Rocket, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter, and Maria Bakalova.
Kevin Feige is the producer and Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Nikolas Korda, Simon Hatt, and Sara Smith serve as executive producers.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is now available wherever you watch movies.