20 Times Actors Bet Against Hollywood (And WON)

It's difficult to imagine Bradley Cooper's surprisingly great directional debut without Lady Gaga in the lead role. She was fantastic, and the various songs she performs in the movie have received extensive airplay ever since. As such, it's pretty crazy to think that once upon a time, it looked likely she might not win the role at all. 

Bradley Cooper saw Lady Gaga perform at a charity event and decided to seek her for the lead, but the studio wasn't sure about it and to be fair to them, that's not entirely unreasonable. Lady Gaga had acted a little bit here and there but she was inexperienced.  Also, lest we forget, there have been many terrible acting performances from musicians - Harry Styles in Don't Worry Darling, Bob Dylan in Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, Madonna and Rihanna in anything they've ever acted in. 

Acting and music are two completely different professions and not everyone can do both all that well - Lady Gaga is one of the exceptions to that rule, and it didn't take long to convince the studio. She and Bradley Cooper set up a ten-minute screentest which they then screened to execs, and the movie was formally given the greenlight shortly after that. 

Gaga ultimately got a well-earned Oscar nomination for the role, and though she's continued to smash it as a pop star, she's now a noted actress in her own right. A star is born, indeed.