BARBRA STREISAND
THE HOLLYWOOD ICON REVEALS WHY HER LATEST PROJECT MAY BE HER MOST DIFFICULT YET
The legendary singer reflects on her career and dishes on a new personal project she’s been waiting to do since the ’70s.
The buzzy Bradley Cooper– Lady Gaga remake isn’t the only new incarnation of A Star Is Born coming soon to a screen near you. Barbra Streisand recently revealed she’s releasing a fresh cut of her 1976 version with Kris Kristofferson.
For Netflix’s rerelease, she’s restoring a scene she’d cut from the original in which she and Kris pen a song together. “I wrote this song, and I didn’t know if it was really good,” Barbra, 76, said at a recent event in LA to promote her Netflix special Barbra: The Music… The Mem’ries… The Magic! “I felt very insecure about the fact that I just sang other people’s songs, and the women of the time like Joni Mitchell, Laura Nyro and Carole King wrote their own songs.”
Such self-esteem issues run deep for Barbra. “I’m insecure in many ways,” she says. “I don’t think everything I do is great.” That includes her long-planned memoir. “I’m trying to write a book now. I’m in my third year! I get tired reliving my life. Been there, done that. I need to go on with other things.”
Looking back brings up painful memories. She was told to “fix my nose, cap my teeth, change my name.” Then after she found success as an actress, she was criticized for becoming a director with 1983’s Yentl. “An actress can be fiscally responsible for a budget?” she recalls people asking.
Yet Barbra truly found her voice behind the camera. “As a director, it’s wonderful because you don’t have to raise your voice,” she says. “Everyone is finally listening.”
And she’s found happiness at home with James Brolin. “I said I wasn’t getting married — who the hell am I going to meet?” she says. “We’ve been married 20 years. In Hollywood, that’s a long time!” — Bruce Fretts
“I love privacy. I love contemplation. I love eating in my bed with my husband!” — Barbra