This Friday's release of The Words marks the creative teaming of leading man Bradley Cooper and writers/directors Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal, all three of whom grew up together as friends in Philadelphia.

An idea that took nearly a decade to be fully realized, The Words tells the story of a passionate young writer, Rory Jansen (Cooper), whose desire to publish the great American novel leads him down a dark path. When he plagiarizes a short story, Jansen is forced to come to terms with the intangible guilt of taking another man's work.

Zoe Saldana stars as Jansen's wife with Ben Barnes and Jeremy Irons playing, decades apart, the true author from whom Jansen takes the stolen tale. Dennis Quaid and Olivia Wilde star as well.

ComingSoon.net sat down to speak with Cooper, Klugman and Barnes about the project and the unique partnerships that it took to bring The Words to the big screen.