Jennifer Lopez. Photo / Getty
Jennifer Lopez has confirmed that she almost appeared in a version of A Star Is Born alongside Will Smith.
Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga's version of the classic Hollywood tale has been a hit this year and has generated plenty of Oscars buzz.
But as Lopez, 49, told Extra, she was once attached to the project in the early 2000s.
"Will (Smith) and I talked about it, talked about developing the script." Lopez said. "It just never took off. Projects are like that."
Back in 2002, Will Smith spoke to TV Guide about his plans to remake A Star Is Born with either Jennifer Lopez or Alicia Keys.
"Jennifer loves the concept, (and) Alicia really likes it (too)," he said at the time.
"What I like about Jennifer is that you could go Latin. The music and the environment could be the Latin world, which would be different from all of the other (versions)."
Lopez became the frontrunner for the role when Alicia Keys' then-manager Jeff Robinson made it clear she had passed on appearing in the movie.
"She was asked to do it, but her first movie shouldn't be a movie where she's basically playing herself," he told MTV in October 2002. "I don't think that's real acting, playing yourself.
"I think her first film should be a little more challenging, a little bit more dramatic. A smaller role, then she grows into a starring role. When you're the focal point of the movie and you're expected to carry a movie on your back, I think that's a mistake a lot of singers fall into."
As Lopez told Extra, the project "never took off" and over the next 10 years a number of other stars were rumoured to be appearing in new versions of A Star Is Born.
Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale, Russell Crowe and even Tom Cruise were interested in the role at different times, according to various reports.
Beyonce was linked to the project for years but in 2016 the New York Post revealed she'd ruled out starring in a Bradley Cooper directed remake because they wouldn't pay her what she wanted.
"Beyonce wanted too much money, and Warner Bros baulked at her price," a Hollywood source told Page Six.
So why did Cooper then chase Lady Gaga for the role?
As he told Lisa Wilkinson on The Sunday Project, "I knew I needed nuclear power in the voice and she's got one of the best voices of our generation."
Cooper arranged to meet with Gaga at her house to discuss the role and the two stars hit it off.
"I didn't even know what she really looked like," he told The Sydney Morning Herald. "I remember she came down the stairs and looked like Lady Gaga but I'd never got to see her eyes and when we sat down, her eyes were so beautiful I knew it had to be her."
Timothée Chalamet had long been interested in playing Bob Dylan.