Bradley Cooper Considered Adele For ‘A Star Is Born’ Before Lady Gaga

Although the long road toward Bradley Cooper making his directorial debut with “A Star Is Born” in 2018 has been well-documented, the writer, director, and star revealed a new detail about who he considered for his female lead before landing on Lady Gaga.

“I thought about Adele for a while,” said Cooper in conversation at the 2024 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where he was there to accept the Outstanding Performer of the Year Award for his performance as Leonard Bernstein in “Maestro.” 

Mimicking his thought process at the time, trying to figure out how his “A Star Is Born” character would come into contact with a woman played by the Oscar-winning UK songstress for his take on “A Star Is Born,” he said, “It was like, his career’s not great. He goes abroad. He meets this woman, but no—And then that never even took off at all.”

IndieWire has reached out to a representative for Adele to confirm whether or not news of her being considered for the lead in “A Star Is Born” ever reached her. To this day, the only acting credit the “Rolling in the Deep” singer-songwriter has outside of her music videos is a cameo in a 2009 episode of “Ugly Betty.”

At the festival event, Cooper confirmed that prior to those considerations, he had still pursued starring opposite Beyoncé in “A Star Is Born” after he took over directing duties from Clint Eastwood. “She was incredible. And we went down the road and then…