Howard Stern as Bobby Maine? The longtime radio host revealed that Bradley Cooper offered him the role of Jackson Maine’s brother in the Academy Award-nominated film A Star Is Born.
Why Did Bradley Cooper Offer Howard Stern a Role in A Star Is Born?
While promoting Maestro, Cooper stopped by The Howard Stern Show, where they discussed Cooper’s 2018 musical drama starring himself and Lady Gaga. Stern revealed that Cooper, who also directed and co-wrote the film, offered him the role of Bobby Maine.
“I’ve told two or three people in my life that you offered me that role in A Star Is Born, and they look at me like, ‘What the f—, you didn’t do it,'” Stern said on his radio show. “And I go, ‘No, I think the guy who ended up doing the role was fantastic!'”
Stern turned down the role, with Sam Elliot playing Bobby instead. Yet, Stern seriously considered the role, which would have been his first acting role since 1997’s Private Parts.
“You came to me and you said, ‘Hey, you will play my brother,'” Stern explained. “And I went, ‘Whoa, he must think I’m a lot better looking than . . . They’re gonna be like, ‘What the f—, what is it, this movie gonna be like Twins?’ I’m Danny DeVito and he’s Arnold Schwarzenegger or something? I dunno, what the hell’s going on here?”
Stern said he was “really toying with the idea” of signing on for the film and wanted to change his appearance. “When we started talking about you shaving your head, that was very exciting,” Cooper revealed.
Cooper stressed that the role that Elliot — who received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor as Bobby — played was a different version of the character offered to Stern. However, the thought of the shock jock acting in his film excited the nine-time Oscar nominee.
“You said, ‘Give me a couple weeks,'” Cooper said. “It wasn’t like you said no right away. I feel like there were three weeks of me sort of standing by, right? You really contemplated this.”
Cooper’s latest film, Maestro, is currently in theaters in a limited release. Cooper directed, co-wrote, and co-produced Maestro, a biopic of Leonard Bernstein, with the actor starring as the famed composer. Maestro streams on Netflix on December 20, 2023.
