I was an extra in the biggest scene of "A star is born". and here is what happened

Courtney Conquers was a Lady Gaga fan for 10 years – even before the release of "Just Dance" – and as a little dedicated monster, she jumps on the opportunity to see her mother in the flesh. "It's a decade of fangirling, networking and madness, but not too much," she told Glamor.com. "Then, from time to time, I receive emails or links to seize opportunities." Earlier this year, for example, she attended the recording of Elton John's tribute to the Recording Academy, in which Gaga performed "Your Song".

Another opportunity came in late April 2017, when Conquers and his friend Jamie (also a fan of Gaga) learned that tickets for A star is born the filming event in Los Angeles was available. (Recipes went to Gaga's Born This Way Foundation.) In a few days, Conquers witnessed the making of the film's most important scene: when Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) released Ally (Gaga) on stage for sing "Shallow" first time. Here, the 29-year-old Toronto native tells her story.

I run a blog called the Drag Coven with my best friend, Jamie, and we were going to LA for RuPaul's Drag Con when a mutual friend sent us a link and said, "Hey, I do not know when you'll be in LA, but you guys should do it. "It was a registration link where for $ 12 a day you could spend two days and be in a scene of A star is born.

We panicked because we were going to be in LA those days, but we had about T-minus 45 seconds to get tickets for both of us – Gaga sells like that, no matter what type – and we were [on an airplane] about to take off. But we have them.

We did not know how we would be involved or where we would be, so we went in the morning and queued. We are used to this – we are those Intense fans. The first thing they did when we walked in was to make sure everyone was putting their mobile phone in a lock block. Then they told us the appropriate number of people for each line. The people who arrived first were closer to the front.

They [also] sectioned a place in front to put people who were there for fun, but who somehow knew how it worked, who could defend themselves. They wanted them to follow the dress code. We were supposed to dress up as if we were going to a summer rock music festival. We were told not to wear anything related to Lady Gaga, which would be at least a quarter of the people who did not listen and who had to return their shirts.

"[After the filming] friends would be like, "I'm so excited. Can you hum the song for me? I would say, "In fact, I can not." "

There was a moderator playing Lady Gaga trivia with the crowd [to compete for spots in the special section]. Jamie and I met a group of about seven [Gaga fans] we knew and had the right questions. So we ended up banging [even closer] in the front. I doubt you saw us, but we were there.

There were several hours when I certainly understood why they needed us there, but we were not active. Earlier in the day, they had to make configurations and practices with doubled and substitutes. They had to light well.

We were there long enough for them to make sure to have a meal. They gave us good, which was good because [the options were] very expensive concert hall food. We all had hot dogs, a bag of chips and a drink. But people got tired and escaped. There was a lady who was particularly impolite, shouting in turn when the arrested people were trying to concentrate. I ended up taking his hot dog and eating it. She had him under her seat, so I said, "You know what? She does not eat that, and she really bothers me." She did not even notice. It's survival!

Before Gaga appeared, they told us stories by singing songs of Gaga. But then, they said to themselves, "OK, maybe you've been singing Gaga songs was a mistake, what we really need is to pretend that it's do not Lady Gaga. You do not know this person. She's not the pop star that you know and love. This is just a girl; you are curious but not enthusiastic. Do not shout things. Do not let go. Lady Gaga does not exist in this universe. "

We saw Gaga and Bradley doing their stage probably about 18 times [over the course of both days]. They had internal microphones, but they turned off the big mics amplifiers; it was not a complete concert. People [outside the venue] They were sending drones to try to record the music. The team caught her and explained to them: "We have to stay quiet, because we have to play music so that people on stage can hear it, but flexible enough for these drones to win." Do not pick it up not. You probably will not hear anything. " [After the filming] My friends would say, "I'm so excited, can you hum the song for me?" I said, "Actually, I can not."

"I slammed the face, first, on an absolute tree of a human being – that was Bradley Cooper!"

At the end of the first day, I went to the bathroom and quickly turned around the corner; I smashed the face first in an absolute tree of a human being – that was Bradley Cooper! He almost hit me on the buttocks. He was very tall, which I did not know. (I was there for Gaga, I'm not an obsessive fan of Bradley Cooper.) I was caught off guard and I thought, "Oh, sorry." And he said, "Oh, sorry." And I said, "No, I'm sorry." We somehow participated in this sorry war, which was funny, he said, "Thank you for being here, how are you?" "I'm having a good time?" And I said, "Yes, it's really good, I'm excited to be here." It was like, "Oh, great, thanks." And I went, "No, thank you." And he went, "No, thanks you."He started laughing, and I got pissed off and whispered," OK, I have to pee now. "I ran away, so embarrassed, he was very kind

On the second day, they took us to the tallest stands to shoot again. (We only paid $ 12 on the first day, but they basically said, "Anyone who is here today can come back tomorrow if they wish.") You do not end up seeing us in the movie with Jamie, because there is a projector flash [when Gaga walks past us in the scene]. It was cool because they made a few catches and she went past us again and again, again and again. At one point she was waiting for the catch to start and she looked up a bit. Jamie and I said, "Hey, my girl." She knows Jamie longer, so she really recognized Jamie. I have not seen Gaga for two years and I've had a radical haircut since then, so she gave me that look. I saw confusion and gratitude. It was a very fast, but very cute interaction.

[Near the end of the second day] I remember saying, "If you absolutely have to go, take a left and we'll unlock your phone. If you can stay, do it. "They checked that they had everything they needed and that everyone was looking forward to it. We stayed and Gaga went to the piano and started to tinker. Then she suddenly started singing her own music – she just did a mini concert out of nowhere. Jamie and I, being our adoring fans, are immediately told to "screw the seat in which I am sitting" and jumped to the front of the stage. She did "you and me", "Edge of Glory" and a little "Born This Way". Bradley Cooper came to sit on one of the speakers and we all smiled; he was clearly delighted to see her entertaining us, it was very kind and the smallest Gaga concert that I attended.

Then they said, "All right, that's all." We all applauded. Gaga and Bradley both got on the microphone and said, "Thank you very much for being here. [The crew] unlocked our cell phones, and that was all.

When we saw the scene on the screen, it was very weird. It was great to see it up there when we went there to see the inside workings. We also saw this woman, whose career influenced us a lot, on the big screen with a new capacity. She was so good. She was even better than I thought she was going to be.

Related: The real story behind A star is bornThe final scene will make you cry again