Bradley Cooper Speaks French, Once Hosted a Travel Show — And More Surprising Facts About Him!

The A Star Is Born actor, 44, has garnered praise for his work on the movie, which he not only starred in but also directed and wrote

Bradley Cooper is a man of many talents.

The A Star Is Born actor, 44, has garnered praise for his work on the movie, which he not only starred in but also directed and wrote. But it wasn’t out of character for Cooper to take so many roles on as he brought his passion project to life over the course of four years.

Read on for some of Cooper’s most impressive skills and other things you may not know about him.

He used to host a travel show

Before he was a regular face on the big screen every year, Cooper tried his hand at another kind of onscreen work. The actor served as host for the travel show Treks in a Wild World, which aired on PBS.

Cooper appeared in nine episodes and explored places like the Croatia coast, Alaska, Newfoundland and Peru. One memorable expedition included a nude beach while he sailed around the Croatian islands — and the actor even joined in on the fun!

He speaks French

Cooper set the internet ablaze a few years ago when he casually spoke French in an interview and made thousands of women swoon in response. He told PEOPLE in 2011 that he learned the language after first seeing it spoken in a classic movie.

“When I was a kid, I remember watching Chariots of Fire. And French is the official language of the Olympics. So there’s a scene where a guy was speaking French and I thought, ‘Man, that sounds so cool. I want to learn French,’ ” he recalled.

He later lived in France for six months as part of an exchange program.

Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Garner in Alias. Scott Garfield /ABC via Getty Images

He graduated with honors from Georgetown

Cooper attended college at the Washington D.C. university where he eventually graduated cum laude. He wrote his thesis on Nabokov’s Lolita before graduating in 1997.

“I loved the college experience of studying. I was very grateful to be there I applied out of high school and I didn’t get in, and then I applied as a transfer and got in,” said the actor. “I felt honored to be there, so I worked my ass off. The whole time I was there I thought I wasn’t smart enough so I felt like I had to.”

And also worked as a doorman while studying acting under James Lipton

After graduating, Cooper moved to New York City where he worked as a doorman at the Morgans Hotel at night. He spent his days studying acting with legend James Lipton and later appeared on Lipton’s iconic show Inside the Actors Studio after he made it big.

He was once married

Cooper quickly got his first movie role in Wet Hot American Summer and skipped his graduation from Lipton’s school to film. He then went on to star in Alias alongside Jennifer Garner for two seasons before almost quitting acting once his part was significantly reduced.

After sticking through it and landing Wedding Crashers in 2005. Around the same time, Cooper started dating Jennifer Esposito and the two got engaged in October 2006. They married in December of that year before filing for divorce five months later in May 2007.

And has dated major Hollywood A-listers

Since his romance with Esposito, Cooper has dated some of the biggest Hollywood actresses, including Renée Zellweger for a time after his divorce before splitting in 2011.

Later that year, Cooper started dating Zoe Saldana and the two were together until their January 2013 split. Cooper then was linked to actress and model Suki Waterhouse from March 2013 to March 2015. He is now dating model Irina Shayk.

The two welcomed daughter Lea almost two years later in March 2017.