Director and co-writer Derek Cianfrance recently revealed that Bradley Cooper nearly bowed out of The Place Beyond the Pines (2012) after receiving a rewritten script. At the nth hour, before they went into production, Cianfrance roped in Darius Marder to rewrite every word of the crime drama, which follows a motorcycle stunt rider Luke (Ryan Gosling) who robs banks to provide for his newborn son. Consequently, Luke’s life becomes intertwined with a rookie police officer named Avery, essayed by Cooper, who chases after him during a robbery.

The filmmaker reportedly shared that when he sent the rewritten script to Cooper, he responded with a voicenote saying he was out. “I had given [Marder] the script and he had a lot of notes for it, and I agreed with a lot of what he was saying. So, we rewrote every word [of the script],” Cianfrance recalled. He added, “I remember giving Bradley the copy of the new script, and getting a voice message from him saying, ‘Bro, I just want to let you know I read the new draft and I’m out.’”