The ‘Maestro’ star and director received the Outstanding Performer of the Year Award at the 39th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where he also participated in a career retrospective when his first on-camera role on ‘Sex and the City’ as "Jake the downtown smoker" came up.

He told the crowd that he was "terrified" to take on the role of the sports car-driving party boy in the hit show's second season, reports Entertainment Weekly.

He said: “I auditioned for it, and at that time I didn't really realise that you could ever get the job. Honestly, I thought that, like, I had a job as a doorman at Morgans Hotel, and then I was lucky enough to audition.”

He continued: “I remember when I got the call to do it I was terrified. ‘What do you mean I'm actually going to have to do it?’ I couldn't drive a stick shift, so they sent me to Models Driving School and I was just terrified.”

In the end, his fear may have been partly justified, as he says he "still messed it up" when it came time to drive. "So they had somebody else drive the car and I just had to pretend that we stopped," he said as he mimicked someone fake driving.

As per Entertainment Weekly, the actor, who joked that he feels "old" learning it's been 25 years since his TV debut and realised recently “s---, I've been around, dude," has indeed come a long way since his time on ‘Sex and the City’.

In addition to his new SBIFF honours, Cooper is a 12-time Oscar nominee. This year alone he's up for three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay, all for ‘Maestro’.