Andra Day Joins Bradley Cooper’s ‘Is This Thing On?’ (EXCLUSIVE) – Variety
By
Angelique Jackson
Oscar nominee Andra Day has joined the cast of Bradley Cooper’s next film “Is This Thing On?”
Cooper, a nine-time Oscar nominee himself, is directing the Searchlight movie, which also stars Will Arnett, Sean Hayes and Laura Dern. Cooper will play a supporting role.
Written by Arnett and Mark Chappell, “Is This Thing On?” follows Alex (Arnett), a man facing middle age and an impending divorce, and Tess (Dern). “As their marriage quietly unravels,” the official longline explains, “Alex seeks new purpose in the New York comedy scene while Tess confronts the sacrifices she made for their family — forcing them to navigate co-parenting, identity, and whether love can take a new form.”
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Best known for her soulful singing, Day made her acting debut in Lee Daniels’ 2021 biopic “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” in which she played the title role. The performance earned her a Golden Globe for best drama actress and a Grammy for best soundtrack, as well as a best actress Oscar nomination.
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Her other screen credits include lead roles in the 2024 films “Exhibiting Forgiveness,” from artist Titus Kaphar, and “The Deliverance,” reuniting with Daniels. She also appeared in Reginald Hudlin’s “Marshall.” Day will next be seen as Athena in Season 2 of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.” She is repped by CAA and Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein Lezcano Bobb & Dang.
“Is This Thing On?” is produced by Cooper and Weston Middleton (under their Lea Pictures banner) Arnett and Kris Thykier, with John Bishop as executive producer. Overseeing the project on behalf of the studio are director of development and production Peter Spencer and creative executive Cornelia Burleigh, reporting to heads of production and development Katie Goodson-Thomas and DanTram Nguyen.
Cooper previewed the project — making headlines for the fact that he’ll make his debut as a B camera operator on the production — earlier this week while appearing on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show,” where he celebrated his beloved Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX win.
“Filmmaking truly, honestly, is very similar to sports — team sports,” Cooper said on the show. “It’s very, very similar to football in particular. If one of the 11 messes up, the whole thing’s screwing up. Same thing in a movie set.”
The “A Star Is Born” and “Maestro” filmmaker explained: “Anybody that’s ever made a movie knows that the camera operator and the dolly grip and the sound mixer and the first AD, these are key positions that are as important as the actors or anybody else.”
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Source: https://variety.com/2025/film/news/andra-day-bradley-cooper-is-this-thing-on-1236307462/
