On August 15, 2023, Bradley Cooper’s second directorial feature, Maestro, captured global attention with its first look and trailer. The film explores the intricate and romantic relationship between American composer Leonard Bernstein and his wife Felicia Montealegre.
However, the film’s trailer received backlash online when fans noticed that Bradley Cooper wore a noticeably large prosthetic nose for his portrayal of Leonard Bernstein in Maestro. This led to some fans criticizing the film as being anti-Semitic and perpetuating stereotypes.
However, Bernstein’s children Jamie, Alexander, and Nina recently addressed these criticisms in a joint family statement, pointing out that their father did actually have a big nose and they are perfectly fine with Bradley Cooper’s portrayal in Maestro. The statement specifically addressed the nose, saying:
“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. We’re also certain that our dad would have been fine with it as well. Any strident complaints around this issue strike us above all as disingenuous attempts to bring a successful person down a notch — a practice we observed all too often perpetrated on our own father.”
The statement also further explained how the Bernstein family was involved in the making of the film and had no problem with Maestro, whatsoever.
“Bradley Cooper included the three of us along every step of his amazing journey”- Bernstein family statement on the making of Maestro
The initial impression of Maestro suggested that the film had the potential to become an Oscar favorite this year, similar to Cooper’s previous directorial effort, A Star is Born. However, the sudden influx of online criticism raised concerns about the project’s progress.
Amidst this, the Bernstein family came forward to defend both Bradley Cooper and Maestro, saying how the characters of the famous American composer and his wife were treated with great respect. The statement read:
“Bradley Cooper included the three of us along every step of his amazing journey as he made his film about our father. 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 misunderstanding of his efforts.”
It further added:
“At all times during the making of this film, we could feel the profound respect and yes, the love that Bradley brought to his portrait of Leonard Berstein and his wife, our mother Felicia. We feel so fortunate to have had this experience with Bradley, and we cant wait for the world to see his creation.”
Maestro will premiere on Netflix on December 20, 2023.
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Source: newstars.edu.vn