Barbra Streisand Lightly Shades Lady Gaga’s ‘A Star Is Born’ Remake: It Was The ‘Wrong Idea’
While she ‘can’t argue with success,’ Barbra Streisand revealed that she has a different preference for the ‘A Star is Born’ remake — one that involves Beyoncé.
Barbra Streisand envisioned a much different version of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper‘s acclaimed remake of her film, A Star is Born. Count the celebrated singer and actress, 79, as a member of the Bey Hive, as she recently revealed more interest in a remake of her 1976 romantic musical drama with Beyoncé and Will Smith while on the Australian talk show The Project on August 15.
“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,” Barbra 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.”
While she thought the recent 2018 version “was the wrong idea,” Barbra maintained that she “can’t argue with success” given the accolades, including Best Actress and Best Original Song at the Academy Awards — the first Academy Award wins for Lady Gaga. However, Barbra added, “I don’t care so much about success as I do originality.”
During the interview, Barbra also had kind words about Beyoncé’s cover of her song “The Way We Were” at the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors. “She first sang it once and I didn’t think it was good enough, actually, for her,” she said. “Again, I always think like a director. I want the best from my actors or singers. So I know she did it over and she did it beautifully the second time.”
Prior to the 2018 version, there had been early reports that Beyoncé had been eyed for the lead role of a remake of A Star is Born. Jennifer Lopez has also previously revealed that she and Will had considered remaking the beloved classic and taking on the lead roles, but it simply never materialized. Regardless, Barbra has praised Lady Gaga and Bradley’s performance in the past, albeit reiterating that she had more of an interest in a version with Bey.
“I think he did a wonderful job with her,” she said of director Bradley’s work with Gaga in an interview with Variety in 2018. “I thought when it was going to be done [with Beyoncé] it was going to be very different and have a multiracial cast, and the music was going to be rap. But it’s more like the movie I made.”