Bradley Cooper in new bio pic of Leonard Bernstein

November 9, 2023 12:12 PM

"It turns out that Bradley Cooper is one of those all in, passionate, driven, focused people, not unlike Leonard Bernstein. And we didn’t know it at the beginning at all" Interview with Bernstein's daughter about the new film Maestro
posted by Seekerofsplendor (9 comments total)

Do they discuss why Bradey Cooper thought it was necessary to wear a prosthetic nose when portraying a Jewish person?
posted by thecjm at 12:14 PM on November 9, 2023 [1 favorite]

Ms. Bernstein has already commented on that issue and sees no problem with the prosthetic.
posted by mittens at 12:24 PM on November 9, 2023 [10 favorites]

Not in this interview, but they have in the past addressed it.
posted by tclark at 12:25 PM on November 9, 2023

It feels really unusual to me for a family member of someone being portrayed on screen to be so full-throatedly enthusiastic about the portrayal and the film. I hope this speaks highly about the actual project and not just their joy at revisiting their lost relative even if viewed through a prism. I do think that Bradley Cooper has a good eye for direction and certainly has always seemed pretty deeply committed to his craft. I'd swear he directed A Star Is Born simply to get Stefani Germanotta on a screen, although apparently it was actually a hand-me-down project which had a lot of other stars attached before he came on as director.

But yeah, he does tend to sort of get lost in the material, especially if it's a project he's passionate about.

I look forward to seeing the film.
posted by hippybear at 12:33 PM on November 9, 2023 [2 favorites]

From the link above:

“Bradley Cooper included the three of us along every step of his amazing journey as he made his film about our father,” the three Bernstein children said. “We were touched to the core to witness the depth of his commitment, his loving embrace of our father’s music, and the sheer open-hearted joy he brought to his exploration. It breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentations or misunderstandings of his efforts. It happens to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a nice, big nose. Bradley chose to use makeup to amplify his resemblance, and we’re perfectly fine with that.”
posted by armoir from antproof case at 1:29 PM on November 9, 2023 [4 favorites]

And fyi, when people do see the film, here's a Fanfare thread.
posted by NorthernLite at 1:32 PM on November 9, 2023

Article about the man who made Bernstein's batons, and a replica for the film.
posted by sepviva at 2:48 PM on November 9, 2023 [2 favorites]

I haven't trusted Bradley Cooper since he made that right wing sniper flick.
posted by evilDoug at 8:09 PM on November 9, 2023 [2 favorites]

I’m still bummed out that Jake Gyllenhaal’s Bernstein biopic didn’t happen.
posted by pxe2000 at 4:35 AM on November 10, 2023