Bradley Cooper admitted he struggled to feel connected to his and Irina Shayk’s daughter, Lea, when she was born. 

The actor appeared on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast and discussed his growth as a father since welcoming the 6-year-old in March 2017.

 Cooper, 49, explained the first few months of Lea’s life he didn’t understand when fellow parents would say, “I would die in a second for my kid.” 

“The first eight months — I don’t even know if I really love the kid,” he recalled feeling. “It’s dope. It’s cool. I’m watching this thing morph.”

“That’s my experience,” the actor continued. “Fascinated by it. Loved taking care of it. But would I die if someone came in with a gun?”

He admitted after only a couple months into her life, he wasn’t sure.

“And then all of a sudden, it’s like no question,” he added.

Cooper confessed shortly after explaining he’s since strived to be a better person in order “to do the least amount of damage that [he] could do to [his] daughter.”

“I’m not sure I’d be alive if I wasn’t a dad,” he said. “I just needed someone to say, like, ‘We’re gonna drop this massive anchor’.”

“I’m like, ‘Why? We’re speeding! I just got an upgrade on the boat, and I know where the wind’s coming in.’ They’re like, ‘No, no, no, there’s a tsunami coming in, and you need an anchor and we’re gonna drop it.’

“Because this is gonna dictate everything you do from now on. Your DNA is going to tell you that there’s something more important than you.”

Some fans of the actor took to X to question Cooper’s comments.