Bradley Cooper May Not Be Playing Lance Armstrong

Were you looking forward to seeing Bradley Cooper as Lance Armstrong in the new J.J. Abrams helmed biopic about the bicyclists rise and fall? Well, you may have to bank on someone else in the lead. At least if we’re going by Bradley Cooper’s word.

When asked about the chances of him playing Lance Armstrong, who finally admitted to using steroids while racing, Cooper told Access Hollywood:

“Oh my God, that’s so nuts! I was in Manchester, doing the BBC morning show… I had no idea what [the interviewer] was talking about. I didn’t even know that J.J. has the rights, I had no idea. I don’t know anything about it.”

However, that quote pretty much conflicts with what producer J.J. has said about his plans. Abrams’ mentioned to E! at the Producer’s Guild Awards that Cooper “sent me an email and we’ve been talking.”

If this film gets off the ground it might be a huge feat. Back in 2005, and again in 2009, Sony Pictures had the rights to another film about Armstrong, which had Gary Ross set to pen with Jake Gyllenhaal set to star, but that picture is pretty much dead due to the recent developments surrounding Lance’s career.

This new biopic which may or may not star Bradley Cooper is said to be about Armstrong’s use of steroids while racing in the Tour de France. We wouldn’t be surprised if J.J. convinced Cooper to hop on to the project. As some of you may know the two worked together when Cooper was just getting started on Alias, the ABC show which was helmed by Abrams’ Bad Robot production company. Cooper played Will to Jennifer Garner’s Sydney Bristow.

Who do you think is the best candidate to play Lance Armstrong? Do you think Cooper is playing coy?