Lady Gaga will "never forget" shooting a scene on 'A Star Is Born' just hours after her friend passed away.
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in Entertainment Weekly
The 32-year-old singer-turned-actress' former assistant, Sonja Durham, lost her battle with cancer in May 2017 and though the 'Poker Face' hitmaker broke from shooting scenes as up-and-coming singer Ally in 'A Star Is Born' to try and be by her pal's side in her final moments, she returned afterwards for a really "special scene" and was thankful for the support of her co-star and director, Bradley Cooper.
Asked about a scene where her character sings a ballad at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, she told Entertainment Weekly magazine: "My very, very, very dear friend Sonja died of cancer that day.
"We were supposed to shoot in, like, 30 minutes, and I left the set because her husband called me and I could hear her in the background and I just got in the car and drove. I missed her by 15 minutes and she died.
"I literally laid with her, with her husband, and their dog, and his son...
"When I came back, Bradley was so gentle with me and we got through it. I performed the song. He was like, 'You don't have to do it again. It's OK.'
"All I ever wanted to do was sing. I'll never forget that day. It was really a special scene, and I'll always remember that moment."
Gaga claims making the movie has "changed" her, especially because of the "phenomenal" way 43-year-old Bradley worked.
She said: "It just has changed me. Watching Bradley work was phenomenal and then having him believe in me -- it gave me more ammunition to believe in myself and I just feel so blessed to have had that experience...
"I think what I learned from Bradley [is] it's OK to be relentlessly sure of your vision, and to go after it with every fiber of your being, and to never stop white gloving what you're making.
"Sometimes, as an artist, I second-guess myself when I go, 'Am I pulling the thread? Am I unravelling the whole blanket now? Do I need to stop?' It's changed the way that I work today."
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