Andrew Dice Clay wants to leave the movie industry on a high note — preferably one sung by Lady Gaga in “A Star Is Born.”
“I don’t know if I want to be on a set of any kind after that,” Clay, 61, told Page Six.
The comedy legend had an acting renaissance in recent years with critically acclaimed turns in Woody Allen‘s “Blue Jasmine,” Martin Scorsese‘s “Vinyl” and now the Bradley Cooper-directed third remake of the 1937 classic.
“I have a good record now between Woody Allen, Scorsese, Warner Bros. and this bigger-than-life movie,” he said.
Clay was particularly impressed with Cooper’s directing, especially considering it was the Oscar-nominated actor’s first time behind a camera.
“He added to what that story was. To be a first-time director on a big-budget Warner Bros. film and to be as low-key and cool as he was on the set is amazing,” he said. “Having to be this character that is nothing like Bradley — he got so into it that even when he was directing, he would sound like Jackson Maine, the character — and he sounded like Sam Elliott, because they play brothers in the movie. Bradley would yell a direction at me and I was like, ‘Is that Sam?’ But it was him staying in character. His musical ability was incredible.”
The Brooklyn-bred performer is also enamored with Mother Monster, in part because “she’s so grounded, a real New York girl,” and in part because she worked so hard on the movie, which was her first starring role.
“She got so absorbed in it. It was such a dark love story that she was in tears from the scenes she’d have to do,” he said. “She’s filling some big shoes from [Barbra] Streisand and Judy Garland. She’s not just a pop star. Lady Gaga is really a vocalist. Her voice, to me, sounds like Liza Minnelli. It’s great becoming friends with her because she’s just an unbelievable talent. On top of that, her acting in the film — that’s a scary place to be when you haven’t done something like that, and she just crushed it.”
Clay wants to turn his focus to projects a bit closer to his heart as a live performer, including his standup, tours and podcast (or as he calls it, his “Dicecast”), and exit gracefully at what he believes to be his cinematic peak, but insists show business will never, ever get old for him (and neither will his mancrush on Cooper).
“Sometimes I can’t believe the things I get to do,” he gushed. “I can be in a comedy club or on set with Cooper, Gaga — when I was on tour, he sent me a selfie of him and Clint Eastwood. It never gets old to me. I never became a jaded guy in show business who’s like, ‘This doesn’t affect me.’ It does affect me! It’s f—king Clint Eastwood! Why is my new buddy sitting with Clint Eastwood in a house somewhere? The excitement of show business never got old to me and never will.”