10 Actors Who Learned To Play Instruments For Their Roles

Bradley Cooper was already directing and co-writing A Star is Born early on. This third remake of the 1937 original successfully updated the classic for a modern audience. Its biggest challenge came with making the musical performances just as memorable as its predecessors.

Initially, the filmmakers planned on filling the picture with artists well established in the music scene. But when Beyonce dropped out of the production, Bradley Cooper took on an additional responsibility in one of the main roles. A fairly versatile actor he may be, but Cooper had little knowledge of playing instruments.

So he took it on himself to learn along with the aforementioned challenges of producing. Taking both guitar and piano lessons for six months to prepare he eventually took to the stage with Lady Gaga at Glastonbury for his first test with a live audience in 2017. He would fulfil the role of Jackson Maine in the film itself.

Bradley says Gaga gave him much of the confidence and support to take up playing, which transfered to the final film in turn. Once the final film arrived in 2017, it was met with great success and high praise. The duets he shared were impressive enough, but his solo performance of Black Eyes was certainly the greatest highlight.