If you’ve seen “A Star is Born” (and box office totals would suggest many of you have), then you understand how difficult it would be to imagine anyone else other than Bradley Cooper in the role of Jackson Maine. The writer-director-star is incredible as an aging rock star that comes across an incredibly talented singer at a bar. But according to Cooper, he originally had someone else in mind to play the role.
As part of a new interview with Lady Gaga about “A Star is Born,” Variety spoke to Bradley Cooper about why he took the role of Maine and why he would have preferred a real musician take on the lead performance.
“I saw this other person that I wanted to do this, who is an actual musician,” Cooper says. “But [the studio] wouldn’t make the movie with him.”
Now, even though he doesn’t name names, Variety says that a source close to the talks said that director met with rock star Jack White, the former frontman of the White Stripes, about possibly starring as Jackson Maine. However, as mentioned, Warner Bros. wasn’t ready to have a non-actor take over the role. That left it open for Cooper to not only co-write and direct the film, but also star as Maine, himself.
The report mentions that this was before Lady Gaga came on board to play Ally in the film. And honestly, it would be almost impossible to not only see Jack White as Jackson Maine, but also see him act opposite Lady Gaga. But who knows? Perhaps, it would have added a bit of authenticity to the performance, instead of making Cooper take months of music lessons before filming.
Either way, it appears that Cooper and Gaga did just fine on their own, as the duo’s film seems poised to land a ton of awards and continue its incredible box office run.