Barbra Streisand Opens up About Re-Releasing ‘A Star Is Born’ on Netflix With Unseen Footage

The buzzy Bradley Cooper and 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 re-release, 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.”

Barbra and Kris in A Star Is Born.

Such self-esteem issues run deep for Barbra. “I’m insecure in many ways,” she said. “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,” she shared.

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 recalled 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 said. “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 shared. “We’ve been married 20 years. In Hollywood, that’s a long time!”

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