Bradley Cooper Recalls 'Crazy' Meeting with Beyonce for A Star Is Born: 'JAY-Z Was Watching Judge Judy'

Bradley Cooper had a memorable experience meeting JAY-Z and Beyoncé.

The actor, 49, met with the powerhouse couple to get the Renaissance songstress to play Ally, an aspiring singer, in A Star is Born, before the role ultimately went to Lady Gaga.

Cooper explained that he pitched Beyoncé for the role to studio executive Greg Silverman, who told him he would do it if he could get the singer as the lead and "make it for under $25 million."

"I went to Beyoncé's house, and JAY-Z was watching Judge Judy, I still remember. I'm not kidding. And I was freaking [out]. I remember I had this weird cough when I was pitching it to her," he said during a recent interview with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation.

"It was crazy. She was incredible and so was he, and we developed it for like a year together. I mean, she's one of the greatest people of all time. Then that fell through."

Cooper said he then envisioned Adele for the role, but she only texted him back once and was "busy."

After hearing Gaga, 37, sing at a benefit concert, Cooper — who ended up directing the film and playing country singer Jackson "Jack" Maine — knew he had found his leading lady.

"It just blew the doors off of the whole place, and it was in that moment where it was like, 'That's it. What was I even thinking?' And then I asked to meet her," explained Cooper.

The film earned eight nominations at the 91st Academy Awards and won the award for Best Original Song for "Shallow" — a duet featuring Cooper and Gaga.

In April 2019, Cooper shared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that he would love to do a live reading of the film's script.

"What I thought would be a cool thing to do, maybe one night, would be like a live reading of the script and sing all the songs as we read the script, like at the Hollywood Bowl or something," said Cooper.

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Although the idea has not come to fruition, he and Gaga reunited on the Maestro red carpet in December 2023.