De Niro wanted Cooper's real mom for 'Silver Linings Playbook'

New York, Dec 24 (IANS) Movie veteran Robert De Niro originally wanted Bradley Cooper's real mother Gloria to portray his onscreen wife in the film "Silver Linings Playbook".

De Niro went as far as to speak to director David O. Russell about his casting ideas.

Even though Gloria had never acted before, he thought she would be perfect because the Coopers hail from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the same town as the movie family.

Cooper says he began to worry that his co-star was serious about bringing his mom onboard until producers found actress Jacki Weaver as the perfect replacement.

"I was like, 'What?' De Niro said - 'I will talk to Dave, maybe your mom should play your mom'. And he literally called Dave and said, 'Maybe Mrs Cooper plays my wife'. And we were gonna screen test my mom to play (Dolores) and then Jacki (came along).." femalefirst.co.uk quoted Cooper as saying.

Gloria stuck around the set to offer Weaver tips on how to portray a typical Philadelphia matriarch and the two women grew so close.

"Jacki spent so much time with my mom and Jacki's the same height as my mother, so she kinda, like, plays my mom in the movie. I don't know what he (De Niro) was talking about (casting Gloria), I literally don't know what he was thinking..," he said.

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The Silver Linings Playbook