Ranch work helped Cooper prepare for role

SANTA ANITA, Calif., Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Actor Chris Cooper says his own personal ranch experience in California came in handy when it was time to play a horse trainer in "Seabiscuit."

Cooper earned a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination Thursday for his portrayal of Depression-era racehorse trainer Tom Smith.

He told reporters recently that in addition to his own experience working with cattle and horses, he also spent hours studying photos of Smith and talking to family members about him.

"I came to Santa Anita on Sundays and spent a little time with a trainer named Bruce Hedley and just studied him, talked with him, just hung around and watched him, incorporated a little bit of his physicality," Cooper said.

"Research, doing the research," he said.