Bradley Cooper took some chances when casting his directorial debut “A Star is Born.” Sure, he chose himself to star, which was an obvious choice. But having Lady Gaga as the co-lead was a risk, even though she’s had some high-profile roles in the past. Even so, perhaps the biggest risk of all was casting Andrew Dice Clay as her father in the film. And as he revealed in a new interview, there were some more obvious choices that Cooper could have used instead of the comedian.
For those not around during “the Dice Man’s” heyday in the ‘80s, Andrew Dice Clay rose to prominence as a comedian that wasn’t afraid to pepper in some incredibly dirty jokes in with some children’s nursery rhymes. However, since selling out Madison Square Garden 30 years ago, the comedian has turned into a bit of an actor, most recently starring in his own series on Showtime. But clearly, “A Star is Born” is his biggest role to date.
In an interview with Variety, Clay opens up about why he’s surprised Cooper offered him the part in the film, saying, “I knew like there were De Niro, John Turturro, and John Travolta. These are major, major movie stars, and that’s who’s up for this. And [Cooper] says, ‘I wanna offer you the part of Lorenzo.’ And I go holy… And now here we are. I’m glad it was me. Those guys work enough. So I’m glad I got to play a dad.”
He also discussed what it was like auditioning for Bradley Cooper initially, which helped him land the role. “We had a meeting on a Friday for three and a half hours, which I basically talked about my sons,” Clay said. “I didn’t even know what the part might be. But Bradley is getting ready to play this rock star, and my kids are rock stars. We even played some of their album in my office. He was just letting me go.”
As good as that seemed to go, Clay feels like he really nailed the role when he worked opposite Lady Gaga during a meeting the following day. There he discussed music with the world-famous singer and eventually worked out a couple of scenes they could try.
“We do a couple scenes that we’ve made up in a way, that Bradley told us what he was looking for. I’m holding her, I see my tears falling on her blonde hair going, why am I holding…I don’t know this girl for 20 minutes, and I’m crying on her. What people would pay to hold the biggest pop star in the world!” he explained.
Well, it seemed to all work out in the end. Clay landed the role, and people seem to love him in the film. Our own review called him out and commended his work, calling it “charming.”
Audiences will see if they agree when “A Star is Born” hits theaters on October 5.