By: Brad Haynes
In her motion picture debut, Lady Gaga is getting rave reviews as Ally, a struggling singer whose star sees a serious rise when she gets involved with established rocker Jackson Maine (the film's director, Bradley Cooper).
It's an amazing vehicle for Gaga, putting her musical prowess on full display as well as allowing her very natural acting technique to shine.
Audiences are bound to go crazy for the film when it is released Friday, October 5, and after catching a preview screening last night, we want to fill you in on some fun facts about the film.
1. This is the fourth film version of A Star Is Born. Previous films starred Janet Gaynor (1937), Judy Garland (1954), and Barbra Streisand (1976).
2. In an obvious tip of the hat to Garland, Gaga's Ally sings an abbreviated rendition of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" as the title credits are revealed.
3. In the film, Greg Grunberg plays Jackson Maine's limo driver and Rebecca Field plays Maine's tour assistant. Previously, the two had played husband and wife in the 2012 TV series The Client List.
4. "Shallow," the first song to be released from the soundtrack, was co-written by Gaga, Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt, and Anthony Rossomando.
5. While she has had quite a few looks, you should easily recognize a closely cropped, dark-haired Halsey in a cameo as the presenter of the Best New Artist GRAMMY at the film's recreation of the GRAMMY Awards.
6. While it is mentioned in the film that Sam Elliott, who plays Cooper's character's brother Bobby, could easily be his dad, that is probably more likely. Elliott is 31 years older than Cooper.
7. Many audience members will be shocked to see a very subdued Andrew Dice Clay appearing as Ally's very Italian father.
8. Anthony Ramos, who plays Ally's best friend, rose to fame as an original cast member of the Broadway smash Hamilton. He also had a starring role in another Lin-Manuel Miranda piece, the musical short 21 Chump Street.
9. Rupaul's Drag Race favorites Shangela and William Belli are featured in the film's early sequence set in a drag bar.
10. The male lead in all four productions had a name based off the original antagonist, Norman Maine. Frederic March (1937) and James Mason (1954) were both named Norman Maine, Kris Kristofferson (1976) was named John Norman Howard, and Bradley Cooper's character in the current remake was named Jackson "Jack" Maine.
When it comes to the female leads, all but Gaga's Ally shared similarities. Original ingenue Janet Gaynor (1937) was Esther Victoria Blodgett, who took the stage name Vicki Lester. Judy Garland (1954) was Vicki Lester, and Barbra Streisand (1976) was Esther Hoffman.