Bradley Cooper denies Lance Armstrong role

Los Angeles - Bradley Cooper has denied wanting to play Lance Armstrong on the big screen.

The Silver Linings Playbook actor was thought to be in discussions with filmmaker JJ Abrams to star in his biopic about the disgraced cyclist, but he strongly refuted the claims on Sunday night.

Speaking at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, a confused Bradley told Access Hollywood: "No... Oh my God, that's so nuts. I was in Manchester, doing the BBC morning show... I had no idea what [the interviewer] was talking about.

"I didn't even know that JJ has the rights, I had no idea."

'What a fascinating character'

This comes after Star Trek director JJ - who has also landed the coveted job of directing Star Wars: Episode VII - announced he had sent Bradley an email about starring in his new Bad Robot project because the actor recently said he would love to play the "fascinating" character.

The film will be based on upcoming book Cycle of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong, an exposé by New York Times journalist Juliet Macur about Tour de France hero Lance, who was stripped of his titles between 1999 and 2005 when it emerged he had taken performance-enhancing drugs.

Bradley originally said in the BBC interview: "I would be interested in [playing Armstrong]. I think he's fascinating. What a fascinating character. I remember Matt Damon was going to do his autobiography at one point years ago.

"I remember thinking, that would be a great character, I'd love to play that character. I would love to do something, I think he's pretty fascinating."