Bradley Cooper keeps eye from afar on ‘Limitless,’ new TV series based on his movie

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – Bradley Cooper has been on stage in London but keeping an eye on “Limitless,” a new TV series version of his 2011 big-screen film.

He “checks in pretty regularly, just actor to actor,” said Jake McDorman, who plays the lead role in CBS’ drama debuting Sept. 22. “I’m thankful for his availability.”

McDorman and Cooper, who is an executive producer on the series and has a recurring role, share another screen credit: They were in “American Sniper,” which earned Cooper an Oscar nomination.

Cooper reprised his “The Elephant Man” Broadway role in London, wrapping the run last weekend. But he helped long-distance with major “Limitless” plot points and tone, executive producers Craig Sweeny and Alex Kurtzman told a TV critics’ meeting Monday.

In the series, McDorman plays Brian Finch, a man whose use of a brain-enhancing drug, NZT, makes him invaluable to the FBI in solving complex cases. Cooper appears as a presidential hopeful who also takes NZT and has his own plans for Finch.

“Limitless” the movie starred Cooper as a NZT-using writer who faces his own dangers because of the drug.

The series also stars Jennifer Carpenter, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Hill Harper.