Bradley Cooper says he had a 'front row seat' as David O.Russell was developing American Hustle.
Cooper will reunite with the director in the new year for the seventies crime caper, and it was a project that the actor knew about since the early stages of development.
Speaking to Collider, the actor said: "He [Russell] didn't pick up the phone because I was sitting right next to him because we were editing 'Silver Linings Playbook'.
"I was there watching him as he was cultivating this whole idea, and the notion, and the script, and reworking it and creating these characters. I had a front row seat [as he developed the movie]."
Cooper is set to take on the role of an FBI agent in the already heavily praised film, alongside Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence.
Cooper worked with O.Russell on Silver Linings Playbook last year, a movie that saw him pick up his first Best Actor Oscar nomination.
American Hustle is set to be a major awards favourite, and all of the performances could find themselves nominated at the Oscars.
American Hustle is released 1st January 2014.
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