Bradley Cooper Opens Up About His ‘Crazy’ Meeting With Beyonce For ‘A Star Is Born’ & How It All ‘Fell Through’

Bradley Cooper revealed that Beyoncé was his first choice to play the lead female role in ‘A Star Is Born,’ before the job went to Lady Gaga.

Bradley Cooper had a “crazy” experience trying to get Beyoncé to join his 2018 remake of A Star Is Born. Bradley, 49, did an interview with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation on February 12 and revealed that he met with producer Greg Silverman to pitch Beyoncé, 42, for the role of Ally, which ultimately went to Lady Gaga. Bradley said that Greg told him, “If you can make it for under $25 million and you can get Beyoncé, I’ll do it.”

The American Sniper star recalled how he met with Beyoncé, 42, in person to discuss the project. “I went to Beyoncé’s house, and JAY-Z was watching Judge Judy, I still remember. I’m not kidding,” Bradly shared. “And I was freaking [out]. I remember I had this weird cough when I was pitching it to her.”

“It was crazy. She was incredible and so was he, and we developed it for like a year together,” the Oscar nominee continued. “I mean, she’s one of the greatest people of all time. Then that fell through.”

Bradley said his next choice to star in the musical romance movie was Adele, who texted him back that she was too “busy.” Bradley ended up seeing Gaga, 37, perform at a benefit concert and he quickly realized that she was the perfect fit to be his co-star. “It just blew the doors off of the whole place, and it was in that moment where it was like, ‘That’s it. What was I even thinking?’ And then I asked to meet her,” Bradley recalled.

As fans know, Bradley successfully convinced Gaga to join A Star Is Born, which was his directorial debut. The 2018 film received eight Academy Award nominations and won for Best Original Song for Bradley and Gaga’s duet “Shallow.” The two stars were subject to intense dating rumors from working together on the movie, especially after their intimate performance at the 2019 Oscars.

At the A Star Is Born premiere in 2018, Bradley told PEOPLE that he “made a friend for life” in Gaga. “As great as this movie was, the thing that I think I’ll take away forever is the relationship I have with her because she is an incredible person,” he said. “I’m very lucky to have worked with her.”

Gaga similarly gushed over her experience working with Bradley in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “It just has changed me,” the “Born This Way” singer said. “Watching Bradley work was phenomenal and then having him believe in me — it gave me more ammunition to believe in myself and I just feel so blessed to have had that experience.”