Bradley Cooper won’t try to be Jackson Maine for his Oscar performance

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

It seems like that with every new movie Bradley Cooper does he shows off another layer of talent we didn’t know he could have, and in the case of A STAR IS BORN it was his rather lovely singing voice. In the movie nominated for eight Oscars, the actor adopted the rock star persona of Jackson Maine, who with his grizzled yet soothing voice commands the stage between hard rock songs and emotional ballads. Cooper in no way views his actual self as being that level of rock god, and he revealed he won’t try to channel that character come time to perform at the Oscars next Sunday.

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Cooper – nominated for Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay and part of Best Picture as a producer – will also be performing the song “Shallow” with Lady Gaga at the ceremony where it will compete for Best Original Song against other nominees that probably won’t win. Cooper not only sang with Gaga in the movie but made an appearance with her at one of her Vegas shows to sing with her. Cooper spoke about performing in real life with the star on Late Night with Stephen Colbert, saying that, much like with that real performance, the persona of Jackson Maine will be gone from the Oscar show.

“That guy certainly isn’t a rock star…I watched the video back…and I just look like this sort of idiot from Philadelphia singing with Lady Gaga. I was like, ‘Oh, Jackson’s gone.'”

When Colbert pressed further, asking if he would get his “Jackson Maine back on,” he said, “He’s gone. I’m not gonna try to get him back. But I will be me singing.”

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In the same interview, Cooper talks about Maine’s voice being inspired by co-star (and Oscar nominee) Sam Elliott, and he revealed that he was at his most scared over of the course of development when he realized how hard it would be to channel a similar accent to Elliott’s legendary voice. However, upon composing himself, was able to dish out a little Maine speak for the audience.

While some folks who may want to hear some of Cooper's country accent may be bummed out come Oscar Sunday, Cooper doesn't really need to put on a performance to do a good job. His great singing voice is enough to carry the show, and really, who would want to step back into the troubled mind of Maine for a single performance? I mean, doing so may mean him risk pissing himself on stage, and as good as TV as that may be, once was probably enough for him. 

Watch Cooper perform with Lady Gaga at the Oscars on February 24.