Bradley Cooper: Why I Remained Sober For Eight Years

Looking at Bradley Cooper, you would never have guessed the dapper gentlemen struggled with his sobriety. Guess that old cliché is true after all, you really can't judge a book by its cover.

Cooper opened up about his substance abuse issues for the September issue of Hollywood Reporter.

"I was at a party and deliberately bashed my head on the concrete floor -- like, 'Hey, look how tough I am!' And I came up, and blood dripped down," Cooper mused during the interview.

He apparently didn't think he proved he was a tough enough guy, " I did it again." He continued. " I spent the night at St. Vincent's Hospital with a sock of ice, waiting for them to stitch me up."

His head meeting the pavement that second time, sobered the actor right up. "I don't drink or do drugs anymore," he proudly admitted, adding that he quit at age 29. "Being sober helps a great deal ... I remember looking at my life, my apartment, my dogs [when I was still using], and I thought, 'What's happening?' "

Before he became one of Hollywood's leading men, the "Hangover" star's self esteem was also down in the pavement.

"I was so concerned what you thought of me, how I was coming across, how I would survive the day," he said. "I always felt like an outsider. I just lived in my head. I realized I wasn't going to live up to my potential, and that scared the hell out of me. I thought, 'Wow, I'm actually gonna ruin my life. I'm really gonna ruin it."

Good thing he finally figured it all out. We must admit, sobriety looks darn good on him.

The actor may have overcome his substance abuse problems but he still has trouble saying no to certain people.

"Unfortunately, when someone asks me for a favor, I can't say no. Because of my upbringing - my Catholic guilt - if I don't do it, it plagues me," Cooper once told Redbookmag.com in an interview. However, he has no problem saying no to women, " But I don't think I've ever dated a woman who always got a 'yes' out of me; I'm stubborn." The actor continued. "And I don't think women really want a yes man."

And just what does the blue-eyed hunk think women want? "Someone who's strong and knows who they are. And who is caring," he said. "But a woman wants a man, not a lapdog."