Bradley Cooper lets it go in an unlikely pop-and-lock dance display

Sept. 9, 2015 5:11 PM PT

Those images of Bradley Cooper frolicking shirtless on the beach with Irina Shayk have taken a back seat to something more magical: Video of the “Silver Linings Playbook” actor busting a move like it’s the ‘90s.

James Corden, who had the 40-year-old actor on “The Late Late Show” on Tuesday, told Cooper he’d seen him on the dance floor at a party in New York, and guest Andrew Garfield said he’d witnessed the same.

“It was exceptional,” the host said, earning a big smile from Cooper. “Is that how you get the ladies?”

(Perhaps we should ask Shayk, whom he hit the beach with again, this time on the Jersey Shore over Labor Day weekend? He does love that orange bathing suit.)

“I did very well in the bar mitzvahs growing up,” the actor admitted. “I couldn’t wait to get on the dance floor. Yeah, that was my in.”

His in with his “Limitless” star Jake McDorman on the “American Sniper” set was something completely different — more on that later.

There are no words to describe Cooper’s image-changing dance exhibition, but it’s right there at the one-minute mark in the video above. McDorman, who was also on the couch with Garfield and Cooper, stared at his “Limitless” exec producer with disbelief. (The TV version of the 2011 film of the same name, which starred Cooper, hits the small screen starting Sept. 22.)

The two guys met when a pumped-up Cooper arrived on location in Morocco to shoot “American Sniper.” As the “Manhattan Love Story” actor tells it, the whole cast was prepped about how ripped, how bulky, how intimidating the star had become since he packed on 45 pounds to play Navy SEAL Chris Kyle.

And Cooper was all that, rifle slung over his shoulder, dip in his lip, neck like a bull’s, just enormous — and then he opened his mouth to ask, in a Southern accent, “You guys seen that movie ‘Frozen’?”

Wait, what?

“Is this a test? ...,” McDorman said he was wondering. “Is he in character? So we were like, ‘Copy that, yeah, “Frozen.” Yes, copy that, sometimes you gotta let it go, man.’”

Turns out the leading man had finally caught the animated Disney hit on the flight to Morocco.

“I was late to the party. I saw it very late. I cried,” Cooper said. “I think I watched it twice on the plane.”

Now watch the actor dancing a couple of times — then see if you can let it go.

Follow Christie D’Zurilla on Twitter @theCDZ and Google+. Follow the Ministry of Gossip on Twitter @LATcelebs.