Barbra Streisand Takes Issue With A Star Is Born

Singer says 2018 film was too similar to 1976 remake
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 17, 2021 9:20 AM CDT

Barbra Streisand said she "loved" Bradley Cooper's version of A Star Is Born when the film came out in 2018. Three years on, she has a bit of a different opinion. "I thought it was the wrong idea," Streisand told Australia's The Project of the fourth version of the film, which followed the 1976 remake in which Streisand starred opposite Kris Kristofferson. Streisand said she was initially intrigued by plans to remake the film with Will Smith and Beyonce in the leading roles, directed by Clint Eastwood, per USA Today. "I thought that was a great idea ... really make it different again, different kind of music, integrated actors," she said in a Sunday interview. Cooper's directorial debut, starring Cooper and Lady Gaga, wasn't very original in comparison, she added.

Streisand said she'd taken steps to differentiate herself from Judy Garland, who starred as an aspiring actress in the 1954 version of A Star Is Born. "Judy Garland was so great in it, I thought, 'Oh my God, how am I going to do this? I have to change it,'" she recalled. That led to her character becoming "a guitar-playing singer-songwriter," opposite another singer-songwriter in Kristofferson, Streisand said. She noted the storyline was altered, too. "So I was surprised when I saw how alike [Cooper's version] was to the version that I did in 1976," Streisand said. "I can't argue with success, but I don't care so much about success as I do originality," she added. This may be news to Cooper. In 2018, he told Entertainment Weekly that Streisand had visited the crew during filming, offering her "blessing." (More Barbra Streisand stories.)

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