Derek Cianfrance Says Bradley Cooper Almost Left 'The Place Beyond The Pines' After Rewrite

Filmmaker Derek Cianfrance says Bradley Cooper almost exited their 2013 film "The Place Beyond the Pines" after receiving a revised script a few days before shooting.

The director said he had brought in screenwriter Darius Marder to rewrite "every word" of the movie.

"I had given (Marder) the script and he had a lot of notes for it, and I kind of agreed with a lot of what he was saying. And so we rewrote every word from 10 weeks to six weeks.

"I remember giving Bradley Cooper the copy of ‘The Place Beyond the Pines,’ the new script, and getting a voice message from him saying, ‘Bro, I just want to let you know I read the new draft and I’m out’,” Cianfrance told IndieWire in an interview.

"The Place Beyond the Pines" also featured Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes, Ray Liotta and Dane DeHaan. The film followed three linear storylines of Luke (Gosling), a motorcycle stunt rider who supports his family through a life of crime; Avery (Cooper), an ambitious cop who confronts his corrupt police department; and two troubled teenagers (Emory Cohen and DeHaan) who explore the aftermath of Luke and Avery's actions 15 years later.

The filmmaker, also known for “I Know This Much Is True,” “The Light Between Oceans” and “Blue Valentine”, said it took him several hours to convince Cooper to not leave the project.

"I was like, ‘Can I come talk to you?’ So I went up to Montreal, and I had a long conversation with him from midnight to 3:30 in the morning where I got him back on. It was only in the last five minutes (he was convinced). I think he just got tired. He wanted to go to bed," he recalled.

"The Place Beyond The Pines" received generally positive reviews from critics and was a moderate success at the box office.