Why Bradley Cooper & Lady Gaga Began Their Oscars Set from Their Seats
Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga's "Shallow" performance at the Oscars had an unconventional set-up: It started with the camera shooting from behind the piano and the singers getting up from their seats.
Mark Ronson, one of the songwriters for "Shallow," revealed that the staging was Cooper's idea.
Cooper directed A Star Is Born, but did not receive a Best Director nomination for this year's Oscars.
Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga's Oscars performance was unlike any other at the ceremony, not only because of the actors' unmistakable chemistry, but also because of how the scene was filmed.
The set for "Shallow" began with the camera behind the piano, facing the audience, and proceeded to move downstage as the band started playing the song's intro notes. Then, Cooper and Gaga rose from their seats in the front row of the theater and approached the stage holding hands before taking their positions by the piano and beginning to sing.
The unconventional camera angle took viewers by surprise, including Ellen DeGeneres. The talk show host asked Mark Ronson-producer, songwriter, DJ, and one of Gaga's few collaborators for "Shallow"-who came up with the idea. The answer? None other than A Star Is Born director Bradley Cooper.
"I think it was Bradley's idea," Ronson told DeGeneres the day after the Oscars. "I think he had a specific vision. I heard Lady Gaga talking about it, so I think it was his thing. And I think that's probably the only time they'll perform the song together, so it made it feel really special."
.@MarkRonson won an Oscar with @LadyGaga for "Shallow," and he was here to tell me all about it. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/YNvXUMB5eZ
- Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) February 26, 2019
Cooper made it known that he was terrified about performing ASIB's signature duet live at the awards show, but Ronson said the actor-turned-singer didn't seem nervous.
"Afterwards, I went up to him and I was like, 'You killed it,'" the producer recalled. "And he was like, 'Really?' And I was like, 'How could you not know?"
Ronson added, "He's not a singer, so it was so brave of him to go and do that."
The Academy snubbed Cooper in the directing category this year, but that didn't stop him from showing off his artistic vision at the ceremony. He did, however, receive a Best Actor nomination, but lost to Rami Malek, who played Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody.
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