Bradley Cooper Recalls “Crazy” Meeting With Beyoncé To Pitch ‘A Star Is Born’

Bradley Cooper has recalled the time he met with Beyoncé for a film pitch, and in the midst of their conversation, found out one of JAY-Z’s pastimes.

The award-winning actor pitched the music icon the film, A Star Is Born — which ultimately went to Lady Gaga due to Bey being out of their tax bracket. According to Cooper, the studio executive of the film wanted the “Break My Soul” songstress for “under $25 million.” Cooper shared that during that “crazy” meeting with Bey for the leading role of Ally, he also witnessed JAY-Z casually watching a beloved court show.

“I went to Beyoncé’s house, and JAY-Z was watching Judge Judy, I still remember,” he shared with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation in an interview. “I’m not kidding. And I was freaking [out]. I remember I had this weird cough when I was pitching it to her. It was crazy.”

He added, “She was incredible and so was [JAY-Z], 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.”

The Maestro star revealed that Adele was also considered for the role of the aspiring singer, but she “only texted him back once and was busy.” Cooper then found his co-star, Gaga, after witnessing her vocal ability during a benefit concert performance.

“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,” he continued. Rightfully so, the film went on to earn eight nominations at the 91st Academy Awards, including Best Original Song for “Shallow” — a duet with Cooper who plays Jackson “Jack” Maine and Gaga.

For Beyoncé, she hasn’t taken on a leading role since the 2009 Steve Shill-directed film Obsessed, where she played wife to Idris Elba. However, the business woman has still broken the box office wide open with her recent concert-film for Renaissance.

The film documented the production of Bey’s Renaissance tour, which started three years ago. Directed by the mama-of-three herself, the film debuted at No. 1 upon its release at the box office.

Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé pulled in just over $38 million at the U.S. box office, making it the fifth highest grossing concert film ever. It followed behind Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour film, which set a record for making quarter of a billion dollars worldwide; Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never ($73 million), Michael Jackson’s This Is It ($72 million), and then Miley Cyrus’ Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds ($65 million) rounding out the top five.

Take a look at what Bradley Cooper had to say about meeting Beyoncé and JAY-Z above.

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