Bradley Cooper gets vulnerable for directorial debut A Star Is Born

The day after the world premiere of his directorial debut, A Star Is Born, at the Venice Film Festival on Aug 31, Bradley Cooper copped to some nerves at our interview on the rooftop of the beautiful Venetian palace, Ca' Giustinian.

Said the 43-year-old US actor of the musical romance drama: "Anything you don't like, I have to take the blame. It is true, the buck stops with me... So there is something beautiful in that I got to make the movie I exactly wanted to make.

"But then I gave it away, it is yours now, and it is a vulnerable thing to do. It is necessary, I want people to experience it. But it is hard."

What made it really difficult was that the Venice Film Festival screening had a 20-minute stoppage after lightning struck the theatre and caused technical malfunctions - a horrifying moment for any director, not just a first-time one.

Despite the mishap, the reviews for A Star Is Born - which opens in Singapore tomorrow - are uniformly glowing.

In this third remake of the original 1937 movie, Cooper plays Jackson Maine, a renowned musician struggling with alcoholism and drug addiction who discovers an unknown singer (Lady Gaga). The two fall in love, and as her career soars, his goes into a downward spiral.

A week later, we talk again during the Toronto International Film Festival at the Fairmont Royal York hotel in Toronto, where A Star Is Born held another equally well-received premiere.

For someone who has received three consecutive acting Oscar nominations - for Silver Linings Playbook (2012), American Hustle (2013) and American Sniper (2014) - directing was something Cooper always wanted to do.

LOVE STORY

He said: "I knew I wanted to tell a love story, and I always wanted to direct since I was a kid. I just never had the confidence to, because I have to tell you, as many movies as I made as an actor, last week in Venice giving (A Star Is Born) over, it was vulnerable and overwhelming.

"Because I had done nothing else but this for the last four years. A lot of people say you can take chances and fail and it is okay, but there are certain things that if they don't work out, it actually does matter.

"And I was aware of that, given the fact of the history of this. But you can't choose what moves you. I just thought, I have to do it."

There is certainly more directing in his future.

"This was definitely the most artistically fulfilling experience that I have ever had by far, and I have had wonderful experiences before. But I really did feel like I was in a place that I felt completely fulfilled creatively.

"So if someone will have me, that is all I like to do. I still love acting and I would love to act in movies that I direct. I actually find that to be the best way to direct."

Compared to most studio movies, A Star Is Born is relatively low-budget, shot for US$38 million (S$52 million) in 42 days, a gruelling schedule.

"It was absolutely insane. I think I got like five hours of sleep. The good thing is Jackson, he does not look so good, so it was okay," he said with a laugh.

His passion for the project got him through it, especially working with Gaga.

"A big part of that is just being on a set with Lady Gaga singing. You really feel like, 'Oh, I am exactly where I want to be right now.' And she provided that kind of nourishment for us."

Cooper does his own singing and plays the guitar in the film, but his playing was dubbed over by US country rock vocalist and "genius guitar player" Lukas Nelson, the son of iconic US musician Willie Nelson.

Said Cooper: "I used his sound, except for a couple of the acoustic scenes. I asked to meet with him and he was nice enough to come over and I said, 'Hey, I am doing this project, can I sing you the guitar that I hear in my head?' And I would sing it and he would play it. His band wound up being Jackson's band and he went on the whole journey."

As for being a star in his own right, Cooper said he does not really think about his own fame and stardom or wish it away - even when he hangs out with Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, because "she is Stefani to me".

When pressed, he tries to recall the moment when he first felt like a star.

He said: "I remember when (the 2009 comedy) The Hangover came out and we were in the airport heading to Europe, and (Rolling Stones guitarist) Keith Richards' family was there, and they were talking about The Hangover and I thought like, 'That is crazy, man.' So I don't know, I think that was the moment."

The writer is the president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a non-profit organisation of entertainment journalists that also organises the annual Golden Globe Awards.