Bradley Cooper glad to have found success in later life

Bradley Cooper is relieved he found Hollywood success in his 30s, insisting he would have gone off the rails if he had shot to stardom as a young adult.

The actor got his start with a series of small TV roles, including a stint fronting a travel show and a supporting part in Jennifer Garner's spy drama Alias, and paid the bills with odd jobs like working as a hotel doorman until his 2009 comedy The Hangover became a box office hit.

However, Cooper, 38, is convinced the years he spent trying to carve out an acting career were a blessing in disguise as he would have struggled to cope with fame at a younger age.

He tells U.K. morning show BBC Breakfast, "I definitely think that if I had been in this Hangover (movie) series at 21 years old, I'd be completely s**ewed, for sure. See if you agree with me: one benefit of age is that you realize what's important and what's not. So at 38 years old, I don't suffer something because I know that it's not going to give me what I want anyway.

"I'm wiser about what things mean to me. The idea of fame... it's not going to give me anything, so I'm not going to cherish it."