I think we’d all agree now that Bradley is fairly ‘cool’, but as a child he claims he most certainly was not. In fact, it was this belief that prompted him to take up French. According to People Magazine, Bradley was first inspired to learn French as a child after watching Chariots Of Fire. As he said, “There’s a scene where a guy was speaking French and I thought, ‘Man, that sounds so cool.’ ”
Many of us, I’m sure, can relate to that feeling: wanting to speak French because it’s beautiful and sexy and cool. We all know, though, that it’s a difficult road to speaking in a way that is even remotely attractive, as we stumble and crank our way through the basics of French. Bradley speaks so well (okay, he makes little errors here and there but his accent is sublime) that for a long time, the jealous part of me assumed he was Canadian and had grown up speaking it. “Easy for him…”, I’d say to myself.
But in fact, no. The star of the Hangover franchise and the director of A Star is Born has put in the hard yards. Despite growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and not being “the smartest person”, he went on to do a Bachelor of Arts in English at Georgetown University, with a French minor. He then took advantage of an exchange program through his university, spending six months with a host family in Aix-en-Provence.
It’s clear from watching the clip that Bradley has a passion for French and of course, as an actor, he is undoubtedly gifted at the art of mimicry. However, I believe he touches on the secret to his success when he says “I’m not afraid to make mistakes.” So please, in watching this video, be inspired, not discouraged. You may not be able to speak as well as Bradley right now, but with consistent effort and a bit of daring, you will get there.
