Bradley Cooper in talks to play Lance Armstrong

Los Angeles: Actor Bradley Cooper has formally been approached by director J.J. Abrams to star in a biopic on cyclist Lance Armstrong`s rise and fall from grace.

Cooper previously expressed his desire to portray the disgraced cyclist after he was stripped of his titles between 1999 and 2005 when it was revealed that he had taken performance-enhancing drugs. Abrams confirmed that he is considering Cooper for the role after the latter reached out to him via e-mail. "Cooper sent me an e-mail and we have been talking," contactmusic.com quoted Abrams as saying. Some time back Cooper had expressed his keeness to play the disgraced cyclist. "I would be interested in playing Armstrong. I think he is fascinating. What a fascinating character. I remember Matt Damon was going to do his autobiography at one point years ago," he had said in an interview. Abrams and his Paramount Pictures partner Bryan Burk recently snapped up the screen rights for `Cycle of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong`, a new book by New York Times sportswriter Juliet Macur, who has covered the drugs cheat for over a decade. Damon and Matthew McConaughey are also contenders to play the infamous cyclist in the project. IANS