Los Angeles, Dec 3 (IANS): Actor Bradley Cooper has been through a lot in life and says that his experiences have taught him a lot and now he doesn't look at life just in black-and-white.

"Losing someone close to me. Going through love and loss.. knowing what's important. Realising that the bottom line is that all I got is me, so it's about time to stop trying to be something that I think you would want me to be," he told Vanity Fair magazine in an interview.

"Or that would give me what I think I need. As you get older, thank God, your body deteriorates, but your soul sort of flourishes.

"I see life much more gray as I get older. I was so sort of black-and-white in my late 20s. There's right and there's wrong and that's it. That's a tough way to live. It's rare that I judge somebody, really rare. I think people feel that, so it's sort of easy to get close to somebody if you don't feel judged by them," he said.

Cooper's next is "American Sniper", which will see him as sniper Chris Kyle. As he has been sober since 2004, the Oscar-nominated actor bulked up for his role the natural way, and managed to put on 30 pounds of muscle without using any stimulants.

"I did it naturally because I've been sober for 10 years and didn't want to do anything. I had a realistic conversation. 'Can I do this in three months naturally? Can I gain 30 pounds of muscle?' I didn't know if I would be able to do it or not. Thank god, luckily, my f***ing body reacted fast," he said.