Cooper's role is 'Limitless' on TV spinoff

Primetime is getting another jolt of brain — and star — power.

In 2011 thriller Limitless, a struggling writer named Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) unlocks 100% of his brain capacity after taking a mysterious mind-enhancing drug called NZT. Not only was the movie Cooper's first foray into leading-man territory and a solid box-office success (earning $79.3 million), it also planted the kernel of an idea for a TV spinoff, premiering Tuesday on CBS (10 p.m. ET/PT).

"We never talked about a movie sequel, but at the end of (shooting), we were thinking it'd be such a great serial TV show," Cooper says. "When the movie ends, there are so many questions and avenues of where to go," so "why not go back into that world, see other people on NZT and find out what happened to Eddie?"

The new show stars Jake McDorman as Brian Finch, a down-on-his-luck musician caught in a greater drug conspiracy after taking NZT and is recruited by the FBI to help solve crimes. Unlike other film-to-TV remakes such as Bates Motel and Hannibal, which feature familiar movie characters with different stories, Limitless is a sequel that takes place four years after the events of the film.

Cooper's Eddie, now a senator and presidential hopeful, will be a recurring character in the first season — starting with a brief but pivotal appearance in Tuesday's episode. In it, Eddie gives Brian a solution for NZT's hangover-like side effects, and encourages him to use his perceptive abilities for good.

"He is the foil that sets up the plot of the series," Cooper says. "Brian has to take NZT as a way of survival. Eddie holds the keys to that survival with the antidote, so if Eddie never showed up again, it wouldn't make sense."

Cooper has already shot a handful of scenes for future episodes and plans to return for more, depending on the show's success and his movie projects. Also an executive producer on the show, the Oscar-nominated actor was instrumental in its development, offering input into tone and story lines and hand-picking McDorman, with whom he co-starred in American Sniper.

"We really took Bradley's guidance. I mean, he was the keeper of the lore and the mythology and the character," executive producer Alex Kurtzman says. When it came to casting McDorman as Brian, Cooper "saw and understood his range. Obviously, having played Eddie and knowing what the requirements are of playing a character who's on NZT, he was very (quick) to say, 'This is our guy.' "

McDorman calls Cooper "a vital lifeline" who coached him on posture and speech patterns to better resemble someone on NZT. "Those technical aspects were some of the most fun to play in the pilot and some of the best notes I could've gotten from Bradley."

Although he's best known for his film work (Burnt and Joy are due later this year), Cooper got his start on TV on Fox's Kitchen Confidential and ABC's Alias. But the A-lister has no inhibitions about appearing in a CBS crime procedural.

"The medium doesn't matter, and for that to be a deterrent would be ignorant for any actor, because if the material is great, it's great and you do it."