It was an emotional night for Lady Gaga and the cast of A Star is Born.
Last night, many gathered at the American Cinematheque Award Presentation in Beverly Hills, where Bradley Cooper was honored for his directing skills on the highly-touted film A Star is Born. Of course, Bradley’s co-star, Lady Gaga — whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta — was one of the people chosen to speak at the event, and it left her very emotional.
According to E! Online, Lady Gaga gave a heartfelt speech to her director turned friend. To start her speech, Gaga told the crowd that she immediately felt comfortable with Bradley Cooper — not just because he’s such a hunk but because he is a “kind and loving and real person.”
“I’m so honored to have you as my friend.”
And aside from building a friendship by starring in the movie together — and by having Cooper as her director — Gaga also shared that the actor taught her a lot in what was her first role in a major motion picture. The singer said that her director made her dig deep, and go to a place where she could be Stefani again. Before, Gaga says that she just put on her cape and became Lady Gaga.
“I’m so grateful to you, not just for making me a better actress, but I’ve been able to call on you as a friend, and cry and be myself and have you never ever judge me and still respect me as a professional,” she shared. “I’ve never had an artistic experience like this before.”
As the Inquisitr shared earlier today, Gaga wasn’t the only person amongst Cooper’s co-stars who sang his praises at the event. Actor Sam Elliott was also in attendance, and gave a moving speech on his respect for Bradley as a director. Elliott explained that Cooper had crafted his character’s entire speech pattern around him, and knew from the beginning that he wanted Elliott to play the role of his brother in the movie.
“He’d made this commitment. It seemed to me like he’d been doing this for four months with this voice coach,” the actor explained. “I thought, ‘Wow. What if I’m not available?’ Or what if, I don’t know, what if I don’t want to do the movie?”
Sam went on to tell the audience that he would have never dreamed of turning down the role in the film — but also that he had to admire Cooper for being so “ballsy” and making a commitment to take voice lessons before he had even asked Elliott to star alongside him.
A Star is Born is currently playing in theaters.