As the director of A Star Is Born, there are a ton of things that would have been scary for Bradley Cooper. It was a version of a story that had already been told three times, it was his directorial debut, and he had to sing alongside Lady Gaga. While these things were likely daunting, what scared Cooper most about doing the movie was making sure that he got his voice right as Jackson Maine.
Bradley Cooper's character Jackson Maine is a country rocker in A Star Is Born, so Cooper needed to do some voice work to be believable in the role. Plus, Sam Elliott plays his brother, so he had to have a similar accent. Cooper ended up lowering his voice by a whole octave, and while it sounds great in the movie, there was a time when Cooper was getting really worried about it.
Bradley Cooper told Stephen Colbert on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that the voice is what terrified him the most about doing the movie. The process of getting his voice just right was difficult, and Cooper could initially only do it by contorting his body. On top of that, he had to copy Sam Elliott's accent, which on top of being an iconic voice, is influenced by two different parts of the country. Thankfully, Cooper was able to get it to the point where even Elliott got freaked out by how good it sounded.
However, don't expect to hear it again soon. Bradley Cooper also told Stephen Colbert that he was retiring the voice and he wasn't even sure that he could do it anymore. When he eventually takes the stage to sing at the Oscars, it'll be as Bradley Cooper.
If you'd like to check out the full interview on The Late Show, be sure to watch the video below!
A Star Is Born is out on Digital so you can enjoy the film anytime you like. The Oscar-nominated movie arrived on Blu-ray, DVD and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on February 19. Watch Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga perform "Shallow" -- and compete for several awards -- during the 2019 Oscars on Sunday, February 24 on ABC.
CINEMABLEND NEWSLETTER
Your Daily Blend of Entertainment News
Matt has lived in New Jersey his entire life, but commutes every day to New York City. He graduated from Rowan University and loves Marvel, Nintendo, and going on long hikes and then greatly wishing he was back indoors. Matt has been covering the entertainment industry for over two years and will fight to his dying breath that Hulk and Black Widow make a good couple.