Lawmakers praise mental-health awareness in 'Silver Linings Playbook'

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and former Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) have an unusual ally in the fight to bring attention and awareness to mental illness: People magazine’s 2011 “Sexiest Man Alive,” Bradley Cooper.

The actor won praise from the lawmakers at a Friday press conference on removing the stigma of mental illness at the Center for American Progress in downtown Washington, D.C.

Cooper stars opposite Jennifer Lawrence as a man living with bipolar disorder in the Oscar-nominated movie “Silver Linings Playbook.”

After sharing her own father’s struggle with mental illness, Stabenow called the flick a “wonderful film.” She said the movie gives the message, “Once you understand and you get past the stigma, there is hope for the future.”

Kennedy, who is bipolar and a recovering addict, dubbed Cooper “one of the greatest young actors of our time.” In a booming voice, the former congressman said, “I thank God, at this time in the discussion, we have a movie out that begins to humanize these illnesses by addressing them as you and me, as mom and dad, as brother and sister.”

He continued, “Because at the end of the day what’s going to make mental health an issue on the national discussion is if people do not feel ashamed because they suffer from a mental-health issue.”

The 38-year-old entertainer, donning a dark gray suit and navy tie, told the crowd, “If I can do one thing, it is to raise awareness, because I was ignorant before I did this movie.”

The “Hangover” star said, “I got to experience what those who suffer from mental illness experience by playing this character.”

Cooper called being an actor a “noble profession” — the same language he used to describe politicians in a TV interview last year.

When asked in October by “Entertainment Tonight” if he would run for public office, Cooper, a Pennsylvania native, replied, “I don’t know. I think it’s a very noble profession.”

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