BEST actor Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper and the cast of “The Elephant Man” will be taking the hit Broadway play about a severely deformed man in Victorian England to the London stage this summer.

    Cooper, 40, has won rave reviews for his portrayal of John Merrick, a sideshow attraction because of his grotesque appearance, in the revival of the Bernard Pomerance play that opened on Broadway late last year for a limited run.

    The play will transfer to London’s Theater Royal Haymarket on May 9 and run through Aug. 8.

    “Never did we think we would have the privilege to perform this show on Broadway, let alone in London,” Cooper said.

    Co-stars Alessandro Nivola, who plays the surgeon who rescues and befriends Merrick, and Patricia Clarkson, the English actress who introduces him to upper-class society, will join Cooper in London.

    Cooper contorts his face and body to convey the physical deformities of Merrick in a dazzling performance that Variety described as “stunning, deeply felt and very moving.”(SD-Agencies)