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."