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Video:Bradley Cooper, Liam Neeson The A-Team Interviews

with Rebecca Murray

Bradley Cooper and Liam Neeson joined their fellow 'The A-Team' stars on the red carpet at the film's premiere in LA. Chatting up the movie, Cooper and Neeson talked about how the film expands on the original TV series that inspired it.See Transcript

Transcript:Bradley Cooper, Liam Neeson The A-Team Interviews

Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the LA premiere of 20th Century Fox's The A-Team.

Bradley Cooper - 'Face' in The A-Team

How was working with director Joe Carnahan?

Bradley Cooper: "He's got this style. He's an auteur director and there aren't many of them left. And you know right away - we saw an assembly of the movie about 20 minutes of it they played to sort of get everybody excited about what we were doing halfway through shooting. And right away I thought, 'Yeah, it's a Joe Carnahan movie.' He has this sort of Altman-esque way that he shoots a scene where you feel like you're just a fly on the wall and everything's sort of happening naturally. And that happens in the whole movie and it's an action movie, which you don't normally see that."

From the '80s TV show what are people going to recognize?

Bradley Cooper: "The mohawk, 'I love it when a plan comes together,' cigars...what else? There's a lot of... The hat, the leather jacket of Murdock - there's a lot of stuff."

What is Jon Hamm doing in this movie?

Bradley Cooper: "He's saving our ass. I'm so happy. He was in Vancouver and he's a great buddy, and we just sort of said, 'Would you please come in and do this thing?' And he was so gracious about doing it."

How did you work out to prepare for the role?

Bradley Cooper: "How did I work out? Too much. Just this regimen, Ashley Conrad was this trainer I worked out with and she was fantastic. They had this food regimen. It was hardcore."

Did you work with an Afghanistan war veteran as a weapons trainer?

Bradley Cooper: "Well, I don't know what he's a veteran of but his names Paul Maurice, a weapons specialist, incredible."

How's the tone compare to the series?

Bradley Cooper: "I'd say that it's more along the lines, if we succeed, to like a Lethal Weapon or a Beverly Hills Cop."

Liam Neeson - 'Hannibal' in The A-Team

This is your 50th film. What sets it apart?

Liam Neeson: "Well it's a big studio movie and it's a franchise film. And I thought it was a terrific script, wonderful cast, where no egos were jostling for position. It was just, 'What's the best we can do in each scene?', you know? It was lovely."

Was that Joe Carnahan's approach?

Liam Neeson: "Yeah, that's Joe's approach, yeah. And he's also a writer as well so when we were doing a scene, even though he wrote a lot of the dialogue, he'd be saying, 'No, that doesn't work. Keep the camera rolling, say this.' He'd come up with a line that might be better, or we'd come up with a line, or Bradley would come up with a line that was better. It was very exciting."

How does the movie expand on the TV series?

Liam Neeson: "I think there's enough homage paid to the original show and the storyline is a lot more complex than the TV show's."

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