Why 'A Star Is Born' lost Beyonce, Clint Eastwood

At one point, Beyonce and Clint Eastwood were to be the stars of "A Star Is Born". But then the singer-actress got pregnant and the latter took up another project, says the film's producer.

The film, which marked Bradley Cooper's directorial debut, finally saw Jack and Ally played by Cooper and Lady Gaga.

"There was a moment where that was the best version of the movie and then all of a sudden, Beyonce got pregnant. Do we wait?" Bill Gerber, the film's producer told The Hollywood Reporter.

"She was amazing about all this stuff. She always understood if we were going to take a different direction. And then Clint went off and did another movie," Gerber added.

On the first meeting of Beyonce and Eastwood, Gerber said: "I'm sitting there thinking, aI think I'm watching something historic about to happen,' and then it didn't. It's just the movie business."

Cooper stepped into the role thanks to "timing". Initially, he had passed it because "he felt he was actually a little young to do the movie".

But when it made its way back into his hands for a directorial opportunity, he was happy to hire himself as the actor because he was a little older at (that) point and he felt like he could portray the character better,a the producer told The Reporter.

Gerber said though Cooper didn't have any directing credits under his belt before signing on for "A Star Is Born", he is "no first-time director".

--IANS

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