STACK #168 Oct 2018

CINEMA FEATURE

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A STAR IS REBORN Gill Pringle caught up with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga at the Toronto International Film Festival ahead of the premiere of their reimagination of A Star Is Born .

play – all of which leads STACK to the Toronto International Film Festival where A Star is Born premiered to a standing ovation and not a dry eye at the Roy Thompson Hall. Talking with the gorgeous duo prior to the premiere, Cooper, 43, will admit the idea of making his directorial debut began taking shape even prior to American Sniper . “It was six years ago when I was backstage at a Metallica concert and I was behind Lars Ulrich’s drum kit and I saw the scope of the scene and thought how it would work just to be on the stage all the time. I’d never seen a movie where all the concert footage is from the stage. “And I also wanted to tell a love story. Without getting too specific, it was also Annie Lennox singing I’ll Put a Spell on You, and I was looking at the veins in her neck and thinking how pure that was. You can’t hide that when you sing.” But most of all, it was

T en years ago, director Clint Eastwood was reportedly in talks to convince Leonardo DiCaprio to star with Beyoncé in a remake of the Hollywood classic, A Star is Born .

about finding a muse in Lady Gaga, whose only real acting experience – apart from creating her own fantastical stage persona – was appearing in TV’s American Horror Story: Hotel . “I think Bradley is an incredibly talented filmmaker. I have acted before but I’ve never been a lead actress in a feature film, and every day

The beloved movie had already been made three times – in 1937 with Janet Gaynor; 1954 with Judy Garland; and in 1976 with Barbra Streisand. But Eastwood believed every generation has their own version of the time-honoured story, and DiCaprio and Knowles would undoubtedly have made a luscious pairing. Not unlike A Star is Born ’s star-crossed lovers spanning the past 80 years, fate would bring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga together to carry the torch.

With the project long abandoned by Eastwood, Cooper began developing his own vision for a remake, just as Eastwood was directing him in American Sniper in 2013. Following in the footsteps of his mentor, Cooper would write, star and direct the film too, casting Lady Gaga in a role she was born to

was such a thrill to watch and work,” says Gaga, 32, born Stefani Germanotta and looking every inch the star of the title. “It was such a thrill to work in the environment he created. He operates with such precision and you can see the gears turning

First debuting in 1937, A Star is Born is a love story that has endured for almost a century. The OTHER STARS

A STAR IS BORN (1937) Janet Gaynor is aspiring actress Esther Victoria Blodgett, who finds fame thanks to the mentorship of Norman Maine (Fredric March), a star at the twilight of his career. This bittersweet story is allegedly inspired by real-life Hollywood celebs of the era, including the marriage of Barbara Stanwyck and Frank Fay. It was also the first colour film to be nominated at the Oscars.

A STAR IS BORN (1954) In this adaptation, Judy Garland takes on the role of aspiring performer, while James Mason is the veteran star who takes her under his wing. Reluctant to be seen as over-the-hill, actors who turned down the male lead included a who’s who of Hollywood legends – Humphrey Bogart, Marlon Brando, Gary Cooper, Errol Flynn, Cary Grant, Gregory Peck and James Stewart. With one of the biggest budgets for its time, audience and critical approval confirmed it a risk well worth taking.

A STAR IS BORN (1976) Taking the setting from the sound stage to the rock stage, Barbra Streisand plays an insecure songstress who finds her voice with the help of hard-living, has-been musician Kris Kristofferson. Although widely considered the inferior of the four versions to date, this interpretation has a charm of its own, especially for fans who adore watching Streisand in full showboat mode.

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OCTOBER 2018

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