Exclusive: Burnt Star Sam Keeley On Working With Bradley Cooper, Being Recognised and His Super Busy Year

Sam is totally going to be your new acting obsession.

Have you heard of Sam Keeley? Well, if you haven’t you soon will have. Not only is he starring alongside Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller as a young chef named David in Burnt, he’s also got seven more projects coming to a screen near you soon. Yep, he totally puts our work ethic to shame.

Now, in a new interview with Marie Claire Sam, who grew up in Tullamore, Ireland, has revealed all about working with B-Coops, being recognised and how acting wasn’t always the plan…

Sam’s had a *bit* of a busy year… ‘It’s been a bit of a mad year. I left home in March to do Alley Cats, the one job I thought I had, but while on that job it just snowballed from one to the other and I just ended up not coming home.’

Bradley Cooper is a ‘lovely guy’ to work with... ‘He’s very professional. It was great. You know, his reputation precedes him, he’s an incredible actor, he’s very dedicated. I’ve admired his work for a long time and it was nice to actually get to work with him, he’s very generous in that regard. He’s a lovely guy and you just know he cares just as much about the work as someone with their first acting job.’

He doesn’t always get regocnised on the street (but that’s going to change soon)… ‘I don’t think I do the types of films that you know, warrant crazy recognition in the street or anything but also, the stuff I’ve been doing, I’ve been working solidly for the last two years and they’re only starting to come out now. As it stands now I’ve got seven more projects to come out, so it’s gonna change a little bit!’

Acting wasn’t his first choice…

Being at drama school ignitied a fire… ‘I got bitten by the bug once I got in there and fell head over heels in love with it… I only spent a very short amount of time there before I actually started to work. But it helped me in terms of giving me the fire for it and the passion for it.’

His family are pretty proud of him (well, obviously)… ‘They’re all very proud of me and they’re all happy for me. It’s the kind of thing where you can’t plan for it and there’s no rules. So it’s not like I was building up through a degree or I was climbing my way up a job where you would get promoted. It happened very quickly and all of a sudden you have to deal with it but everybody’s really supportive and loves what I’m doing so it’s great!’

Sam’s next project is with Kate Mara… ‘I’m heading to Spain to do a project with Kate Mara about the US marines. I don’t think I can say much… But it’s basically a true story about a US marine who was a canine handler, who was very prestigious in the Iraq was in 2003 and she helped save over 1,000 American lives with this dog and it’s basically her story, when she goes to war.’

Burnt is out in cinemas now.