During all the Silver Linings Playbook press hoopla, Bradley Cooper said something very atypical for a Hollywood bachelor. When facing speculation about a possible romance with 22-year-old co-star Jennifer Lawrence (because let's be honest, movie stars who don't hook up on set are kind of the minority), he denied it, saying "First of all, I could be her father."
A young father, sure, since he's only 16 years older than her, but that's a pretty significant age gap. Certainly bigger than the supposedly ideal age difference for couples, although not even close to the biggest gap we've seen, especially for a celebrity couple. Not to make him the poster boy for a new Hollywood, but it was so refreshing in a world that seems to constantly pair women with men decades senior, both in movies and real life, to hear a big star say he might actually prefer dating women closer to his own age.
But now our man Bradley appears to have a new woman in his life, model Suki Waterhouse, and guess what: She's two years younger than J-Law! As in, she's 20 to his 38! OKKK then.
(So as to not twist his words, I feel obligated to point out that he followed up his original quote with an "I'm kidding," so I don't actually think he has a strict rule about not dating younger women. Still, it seems like an odd distinction to point out only to immediately turn around and date an even younger lady, right?)
There are some dating rules are meant to be broken. The Rules, for one. Or if you've got some kind of mental block against dating guys who are under 5'10" or who don't have the same taste in music as you, please. Break those. Break them all over the place. But some purported rules, like dating in your own approximate age zone, seem like they're there for a reason—because they'd make a relationship that much more difficult. That said, I suppose for the right person (or a really pretty model, ahem), age is just a number. And besides, as a wise woman once said...what did following the rules ever get me besides a bunch of music I paid for?
Do you have any personal dating rules, and have you ever broken them? Do you think you would, for the right person?
Rules were (maybe) meant to be broken:
3 Basic Dating Rules Men Are Still Getting Wrong
10 Dating Rules Men Wish You Would Break
15 Love Rules for Single Women
