Prolific actor Clint Eastwood was originally supposed to direct A Star Is Born before Bradley Cooper helmed the project. But when Eastwood was in charge, there was a different cast in mind for the drama. So when Lady Gaga was cast in Cooper’s version, Eastwood didn’t think that was the right move.
Clint Eastwood’s ‘A Star is Born’ looked completely different from Bradley Cooper’s
A Star Is Born has been remade several times over the years. Cooper’s take on the classic tale marks the story’s latest remake. But years before Cooper came on board, Eastwood was set to direct the film. But his version was going to star Beyonce instead of Lady Gaga, who admitted being nervous about the opportunity.
“I’m slightly a bit intimidated, I have to say,” Beyonce said in an interview with Pride and Source. “I feel a bit overwhelmed, and I’m still in shock. But the studio and Clint believe in me, and I feel like I’ve been really selective and I’ve waited and worked really hard and I’ve done different types of movies – from comedies to thrillers to drama when I played Etta James – and I really wanted to make sure I was ready.”
But many factors would lead to Eastwood’s film never coming to fruition. One of those factors was Beyonce’s pregnancy.
“There was a moment where that was the best version of the movie and then all of a sudden, Beyonce got pregnant. Do we wait?” the film’s producer Bill Gerber told The Hollywood Reporter. “She was amazing about all this stuff. She always understood if we were going to take a different direction. And then Clint went off and did another movie.”
Clint Eastwood didn’t think Lady Gaga was right for ‘A Star Is Born’
Even after Eastwood was off the project, he still paid a bit of attention to A Star Is Born’s development. When Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper were announced in the lead roles, Eastwood was unimpressed with the casting choice at first. But he was later proven wrong.
“I thought he [Cooper] did a great job. A lot of things that I wasn’t sure about… like he wanted [Lady Gaga]… I wasn’t sure she was right for it, but I think she is stunning in it,” Eastwood told Extra TV (via NME).
However, not everyone felt this way. Barbara Streisand had a different opinion of Cooper’s version.
“At first, when I heard it was going to be done again, it was supposed to be Will Smith and Beyoncé, and I thought, that’s interesting. Really make it different again, different kind of music, integrated actors. I thought that was a great idea,” she told The Project. “So, I was surprised when I saw how alike it was to the version that I did in 1976.”
Because of this, Streisand thought casting Lady Gaga was “the wrong idea.”
Clint Eastwood inspired Bradley Cooper to do ‘A Star Is Born’
Clint Eastwood was instrumental in giving Cooper the confidence he needed to tackle A Star Is Born. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, The Hangover star discussed how Eastwood inspired Cooper to do the project.
“I was too young. I always thought I didn’t have enough experience to play this guy,” Cooper said. “But that was when I first became aware of the project and first met Clint actually. He was thinking about doing it and we were talking about it. I was 38 at the time — I’m 43 now, and I just knew … I just thought, ‘I don’t know if I could buy me like that.’ And then life happens and we wound up doing American Sniper together which aged me. And then a year of doing The Elephant Man [on Broadway] aged me. And I thought, ‘You know what? I think I’m ready.’”