"American Sniper" starring Bradley Cooper playing as Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history is currently breaking box-office records and garnering critical acclaim with six Oscar nominations, while at the same time rousing a lot of controversy.
The latest issue that has filmgoers up in arms is the use of a fake baby in the Clint Eastwood-directed war biopic.
On October 19, Monday Cooper told Ellen DeGeneres on The DeGeneres Show, “I literally couldn’t believe it,” and he added: “Like I couldn’t believe we were working with the plastic baby.”
Bradley Cooper was referring to a scene in the movie where a fake baby was used while they shot the scene featuring him and his onscreen wife, Taya (played by Sienna Miller in the film).
The actors did their best to make do with their available props, but people have taken notice (in at least one media screening, the audience laughed out loud at how obviously fake the prop is).
The obviously inanimate doll makes at least one very outrageous appearance in the film, in a scene in which both Cooper and Miller cradled the child in the nursery.
It's an emotional interaction, but critics and viewers alike have criticized the scene for its use of a plastic baby.
“I was like, ‘This is nuts,’” Cooper said to DeGeneres, before discussing the thumb move and recalling how he joked to the crew that it would save the project $100,000 in computer-generated effects.
“Eat your heart out, Muppets,” Cooper added.
According to American Sniper screenwriter/executive producer Jason Hall, there's actually a good explanation as to why fake babies were used on the film.
In response to journalist Mark Harris' tweet "That plastic baby in American Sniper is going to be rationalized by Eastwood auteur cultists until the end of days," Hall replied: "hate to ruin the fun but real baby #1 showed up with a fever. Real baby #2 was no show. (Clint voice) Gimme the doll, kid."
Regardless of the reason, however, Cooper said he formed a bond with his inanimate counterpart.
“I have to say, I grew to be very fond of that [doll],” Cooper told DeGeneres. “I fell in love with that plastic thing.”