MUMBAI: Director J.J. Abrams has formally approached Bradley Cooper to star in a biopic on the rise and fall from grace of cyclist Lance Armstrong.

Abrams confirmed that he is considering Cooper for the role after the latter reached out to him via e-mail. Cooper sent me an e-mail and we have been talking," contactmusic.com quoted Abrams as saying.

Sometime ago, Cooper had expressed his desire to portray the disgraced cyclist after he was stripped of his titles between 1999 and 2005 when it was revealed that he had taken performance-enhancing drugs.

"I would be interested in playing Armstrong. I think he is fascinating. What a fascinating character. I remember Matt Damon was going to do his autobiography at one point years ago," Cooper had said in an interview.

Damon and Matthew McConaughey are also contenders to play the infamous cyclist in the project.