Barbra Streisand Got Real About How Much She DIDN'T Love The 'A Star Is Born' Remake
Ouch.
On Aug. 31, 2018, A Star is Born premiered at the 75th Venice International Film festival and grossed a whopping $436 million worldwide. As many will remember, the film, starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, follows a heavy-drinking musician who discovers and falls in love with a young singer. You can’t argue with success, right? Well, apparently Barbara Streisand can try. The iconic actress, who starred in the third version of the film back in 1976 alongside Kris Kristofferson, threw a jab at the remake. Barbra Streisand's quotes about Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's 'A Star Is Born' are… shady.
The Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award-winner opened up to The Sunday Project in an Aug. 15 interview. “At first, when I heard it was going to be done again, it was supposed to be Will Smith and Beyoncé, and I thought, ‘That’s interesting,” she said. “Really make it different again, different kind of music, integrated actors. I thought that was a great idea. So, I was surprised when I saw how alike it was to the version that I did in 1976.”
The 79-year-old added, “I can’t argue with success, but I don’t care so much about success as I do originality.” Ouch.
These remarks come at somewhat of a surprise, considering that when the remake originally debuted in 2018, the Funny Girl star was totally onboard, praising both Gaga and Cooper. She even told Extra that she “loved” it. “I think it’s wonderful. She’s wonderful,” Streisand said. “I think it’s great, they’re gonna have a big hit.”
Streisand and Kristofferson even visited Cooper and Gaga on set. “She gave us a blessing. Everybody was so excited she was there. We just looked at each other and were like, ‘Wow. How are we here right now?'” Cooper told Entertainment Weekly following the visit.
“She was so, so kind,” Gaga added. Streisand said she had given Gaga some pointers when remaking the musical. “I told her to do it live, and she wanted to do it live, so that’s good because that’s the best way to do it. But their songs are different,” she told E! in 2018. “It starts like my old movie, with the concert and he goes to a club and finds her. But they were able to put some new things in it which I liked.”
A girl can change her mind, right? Although the 2018 remake did draw a few similarities to Streisand’s 1976 version of the same film, Cooper and Gaga stole the hearts of audiences worldwide. I have to admit, a Beyoncé and Will Smith version of the film sounds amazing. Fingers crossed!
