Bradley Cooper's A Star Is Born character is based on Eddie Vedder

Lady Gaga is drawing raves from critics—and the heavens themselves—for her turn in Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born remake, which, as in its previous iterations, updates the timeless story of a singer’s rise to fame to the tunes of our times. That means Cooper’s Jackson Maine, the fading musician who nurtures our heroine’s talent, couldn’t simply emerge as a carbon copy of, say, Kris Kristofferson’s turn from the 1976 version. In a new interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Cooper reveals that while he certainly studied Kristofferson’s take, he also drew on a more modern inspiration for the character in Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder.

Cooper and Vedder apparently became pals—The Wrap reminds us that the pair enjoyed a Philadelphia Eagles game together earlier this year—after the former ventured up to the Northwest to pepper the legendary grunge rocker with “9,000 questions,” including, presumably, how he makes his voice do that. “[He] gave me minor, little things that only musicians know about what to do, just aesthetically and the inner workings,” Cooper told Yahoo.