Days before the 91st Academy Awards, the celeb wires were abuzz about Lady Gaga’s new tattoo — a bar of musical notes — being interpreted as a tribute to Bradley Cooper, her co-star and director of
the musical romantic drama, 'A Star Is Born'.
It’s a fitting culmination of the two actors love-bombing each other for nearly six months. The film has eight nominations to its name at the Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Cooper), Best Actress (Gaga), Best Supporting Actor (Sam Elliott) and Best Original Song (Shallow).
Lady Gaga’s turn as Ally Maine, a nightclub singer who is discovered by Jack (Cooper) has gained much approval, especially for that je ne sais quoi factor she brings into her rendition of Édith Piaf’s La Vie En Rose.
With roughly 27 million albums sold and 146 million singles, Gaga — real name, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta — remains in the thrall of Cooper, even while the actor-director seems entirely taken by Gaga’s musicianship. In the lead up to the Oscars, we got to chat with the American singer, songwriter, and actor about her role in the movie, and the making of a relationship with Cooper.
How did you meet Bradley Cooper, and how did the film come about?
It was an incredible experience. I sang the night before I met him at an event. I was singing La Vie En Rose. I was doing a jazz set that evening and Bradley just happened to be in the audience. I got a phone call that evening that he wanted to meet me the next day, and he came to my house.
I was just like ‘Oh my god, what’s going on?’ He came home and I looked into his eyes, and I just felt an instant connection with him. He made me feel so comfortable. He is such a kind, loving person and it’s so rare. I’ll tell you something, there is a lot of fake people in Hollywood, and Bradley is not one of them.
Did it take a lot of convincing from Bradley to make you do this, because it is a big leap?
It took no convincing on my part actually. When I heard him sing at my house that night, I was blown away by him. He sings from his soul, he sings from his gut. When he sings he is a storyteller, and I was just so moved by his passion for music and for this film. Quite frankly, it was Bradley that had to convince other people to have me in the movie not anyone trying to convince me. He really fought for me. You can have a 100 people in a room and 99 don’t believe in you and one does and that was Bradley Cooper for me. He believed in me. I got to live my dream. I had always wanted to become an actress and Bradley made it happen.
Everyone has been gushing about your friendship with Bradley: the internet has exploded with articles.
Well, we had instant chemistry when I met him. As soon as I opened the door to my house and saw him, I was like, “You hungry?” (Laughs) We’re both Italian and from the East Coast, so before I knew it, I was heating up leftover pasta and we were eating and talking about life... So, yes, it was there from the moment we met. He is a beautiful human being.
You’re doing a song and acting a scene. What was that challenge like?
The truth is, I love singing with him and he says something to me on camera in the film, and he says it to me in real life: “All you gotta do is trust me.” And we just trusted each other and the idea was not to ‘act’ at all. It was to sing, to communicate and to have a conversation.
When we did these scenes, we did it over and over and it was different every time because we did it live. I hate it when I am watching a movie and there is music in it and I can instantly tell when the actors are lip syncing. It drives me crazy. That’s interesting because you started off as an actress. At what point did you say this isn’t for me. When I sucked at auditioning (laughs). I was terrible. I would freeze. I just couldn’t do it. I almost got cast in the regional tour of Rent, but I was too young. I did some extra work. I was an extra in the Sopranos.
I just thought I am not going to make it as an actress and I loved music and had been playing the piano since I was four, singing my whole life, writing songs since I was 13, thanks to my vocal coach. He asked me one day, do you write songs. I said that I’ve tried a little bit, I used to write a little poetry and a little music on the piano but I hadn’t put the two together. He said maybe you should do that. So, I wrote a song. I was 13, and I wrote a song called I will learn to love again. What did I even know about love? (laughs.)
A Star is Born has been a success, critically and commercially. How does it feel?
I just feel so filled with gratitude and I am so humbled by this experience of working with Bradley Cooper. It was such an artistic moment that I have never felt before. I just feel so very happy and so blessed. I can’t believe it. It is really such an outer body experience. It is a dream come true.
You are making history by being the first woman to be nominated for Best Actress and Best Original Song in the same year.
I am so humbled and proud to be nominated for two Academy Awards. There really is no greater honor, and to share this excitement with Bradley, Sam, Mark, Andrew, Anthony and everyone involved in the film is pretty mind-blowing. Bradley had such a precise vision and perspective and he created a true family. The greatest gift has been how the film has resonated with so many people on so many levels.