Billy Zane says Bradley Cooper proves why actors make good directors

'He captured that in a very efficient and elegant and easy way, with very smart two-camera coverage'

Billy Zane has praised Bradley Cooper’s work on A Star is Born and said it proves that actors naturally make good directors.

The actor told BANG Showbiz: “Bradley did a phenomenal job, I think actors do make great directors because they understand how to shoot emotion.”

“The first hour of that movie takes place in hotels and parking lots but you’re completely engrossed in behaviour and subtlety and nuance and improvisation, and two people who are talking to each other, falling in love.”

Cooper made his directorial debut with A Star is Born, the third remake of a 1937 film of the same name, while also playing one of its lead roles, the alcoholic musician Jackson Maine.

“He captured that in a very efficient and elegant and easy way, with very smart two-camera coverage,” Zane added. “It was intelligent, it was subtle and it wasn’t chasing results.”

“I think a storyteller that might not be as well versed in the finer currents and notes of discourse that an actor, who spends their career and time observing with themselves and with others. I think that movie is a great testament to that fact and that you don’t need a huge budget to create emotional investment on that scale.”

He also praised Cooper’s co-star, Lady Gaga, adding: “I thought Gaga was wonderful – I really liked [the movie].”

Zane is set to play Marlon Brando in a new biopic of the acting legend, currently titled Waltzing with Brando.