Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1055354
DEPARTMENT www.postmagazine.com 13 POST NOVEMBER 2018 SHOOTING FOR THE STARS IN HIS DIRECTORIAL DEBUT, BRADLEY COOPER DISCUSSES LADY GAGA AND HIS HOLLYWOOD REMAKE OF A STAR IS BORN BY IAIN BLAIR Most actors who take on their first gig as a director opt for a modest, low-profile project that allows them to learn the ropes without too many risks attached and to make the inevitable mis- takes that go with the territory, without too much attention. Bradley Cooper is not one of those actors. When he decided to make his directorial debut, he shot for the stars and remade a Hollywood classic — A Star Is Born. And he didn't stop there. For his take on the iconic love story (it's the fourth version), he cast music superstar Lady Gaga in her first leading role in a major motion picture, and she follows in the considerable footsteps of Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand and Janet Gaynor. Cooper, who also co-produced and co-wrote it, also took on the co-lead opposite Gaga, play- ing rock 'n' roller Jackson Maine, a musician struggling with various addictions who discovers and falls in love with Gaga's struggling artist Ally. She has given up on her dream to become a successful singer, until she meets Jack, who immediately sees her natural talent. And of course there's the music. Gaga — who earned an Oscar nod for the song "Til It Happens to You" from the film The Hunting Ground — performs original songs in the film with Cooper, which they co-wrote with a handful of artists, including Lukas Nelson, Jason Isbell and Mark Ronson, and all vocals for the movie were recorded live during filming. Talk about pressure. But Cooper smartly assembled a behind-the-scenes team that included Oscar-nominated director of photography Matthew Libatique (Black Swan), production designer Karen Murphy (The Light Between Oceans) and three-time Oscar-nominated editor Jay Cassidy (American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook, Into the Wild). Here, in an exclusive interview with Post, Cooper talks about making the Warner Bros. release, which is generating lots of Oscar talk, and his love of post.