A Star is Born

Published Date: 09/08/2018

Hard-drinking country music star Jackson Maine discovers - and falls in love with - a struggling but talented singer named Ally. As her career quickly takes off, Jackson starts to realise that his best days may be behind him.

A Star Is Born marks the directorial debut of Bradley Cooper, who also stars as Jackson Maine, with superstar Lady Gaga co-starring as Ally. Both Cooper and Gaga helped write the film's songs and sang live during filming.

In fact Cooper revealed at the Tribeca Film Festival that singing live during filming was one of Gaga's stipulations when she agreed to take on the role. "She said right from the beginning that this was going to be a bargain" revealed Cooper. He went on to say that Gaga informed him that she was going to rely on her director to get an honest performance from her and in turn she should help him become a musician. Seeing actors lip-syncing to pre-recorded tracks was a pet hate of the international superstar, and said Cooper "she's right. So that was terrifying, but I really relied on her."

The director and star threw himself into honing his stage presence, which aligned with eighteen months of singing lessons, saw him play live at festivals such as Glastonbury and Stagecoach.

He explained that shooting at real festivals and concerts was "one of the great things that I love about the movie…just jumping on stage for 45 minutes. We were at Stagecoach: I got to sing in front of like, 20,000 people on the Pyramid Stage. The production value you get out of that is great."

Cooper continued by paying homage to Kris Kristofferson who by coincidence also played Glastonbury last summer. "He let me take four minutes of his set, so I got to that, and then I got to say, 'Ladies and gentlemen, Kris Kristofferson,' which was very cool."

He was also quick to highlight the screen presence of his co-star Lady Gaga. "You can't hide when you sing. To me, the best way to express love is through singing and music. I knew that if I could marry that in a way, that'd be special. Lady Gaga is just kind of a revelation."

Cooper's version of A Star Is Born marks the fourth big screen adaptation following the 1937 original, which saw star Janet Gaynor earn an Academy Award nomination for the lead role. In 1954 Judy Garland and James Mason took on the lead roles and both garnered Academy Award nominations, and Barbra Streisand co-wrote the Best Oscar winning song 'Evergreen' for her version of the film released in 1976 in which she co-starred alongside Kris Kristofferson.

So the tale has Oscar credentials and the early buzz is certainly enthusiastic. We have seen some extended footage of the film and are truly excited to see it all on the big screens here at Showcase Cinemas.

A Star Is Born is at Showcase Now!