So A Star is Born came out this weekend and emotionally decimated every human being it came in contact with.
Unsurprisingly, the saddest scene and song in the entire film came at the very end, so WARNING: YOU ARE NOW ENTERING SPOILER TERRITORY. IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE FILM, PLEASE COME BACK LATER, AND WE'LL ALL CRY TOGETHER THEN.
Okay so, the film ends with Ally (Lady Gaga) singing "I'll Never Love Again," a song written specifically for her by her recently deceased husband, Jackson (Bradley Cooper). The scene itself is one of the most beautifully tragic moments to grace movie screens in a LONG time, thanks in large part to Gaga's incredible performance.
View this video on YouTube
I challenge you to listen to this song without sobbing profusely.
But, as it turns out, the real behind-the-scenes story of what Gaga experienced the day she filmed that scene is equally heartbreaking. Watch her tell the story to Apple Music here:
On the day of shooting the final scene, Gaga received a call that her best friend and the long-time manager of Haus of Gaga, Sonja Durham, was dying.
Durham had been battling stage four breast, brain, and lung cancer. Gaga (without telling ANYONE on set, including Cooper) got in her car in the middle of filming and drove an hour to say goodbye to her friend.
Heartbroken, Gaga said she returned to the set after speaking with Durham's husband, who instructed her to continue to do what Durham would've wanted: Sing.
When Gaga returned to set she told Cooper, who insisted they stop filming, that she "Just wanted to sing." The result was the emotionally raw sequence we saw in the film.
And the now ICONIC final shot of the film was done on the very first take after Gaga returned to set.
So yeah, A Star is Born continues to emotionally destroy us all the more we learn about it. Please just give Gaga her damn Oscar, kthanxbye.
