Bradley Cooper finally addresses his Maestro nose
Despite widespread backlash and claims that he was perpetuating “Jewface,” the necessity of wearing an enlarged prosthetic to play legendary composer Leonard Bernstein was as plain to Bradley Cooper as the nose on his face. Rainn Wilson talks “Jerry and Marge”, “The Rocker”, and Dwight Schrute Three months after the first trailer for Cooper’s upcoming biopic Maestro —and the controversy surrounding it—the multi-hyphenate is breaking his silence about the whole thing. “My nose is very similar to Lenny’s, actually, so the prosthetic is actually like a silk sheet,” Cooper said on today’s episode of CBS Mornings. “I thought, ‘Maybe we don’t need to do it because we could take down time of prep,’ but it’s all about balance, and, you know, my lips are nothing like Lenny’s, and my chin. And so we had that, and it just didn’t look right [without the prosthetic].”
“I had to do that, otherwise I wouldn’t believe he was human,” Cooper concluded. Following the backlash, several groups, including Bernstein’s own children, rushed to Cooper’s defense, with the actor and director calling the act “very moving.” “It’s true that Leonard Bernstein had a nice, big nose. Bradley decided to wear make-up to further enhance his identity, and we’re totally fine with that. We are sure that our father would not have minded either,” the family wrote. The Anti-Defamation League weighed in as well, stating (via The Hollywood Reporter) that “Throughout history, Jews have been portrayed in anti-Semitic films and propaganda as evil caricatures with big hooked noses. There were many,” he wrote. This is not the case with this film, a biography of legendary conductor Leonard Bernstein. ”
In a recent interview with Variety, the film’s makeup artist Hiro Kazu also explained how intense Cooper’s prosthetic transformation really was. According to the Oscar-winning artist, Cooper’s care plan includes not only his nose, but also artificial ears, temples, lips, cheeks, neck, shoulders, hands, and eventually a full-body suit as the character ages over the course of the film. It is said that it was . Hiro also made a custom nose plug for Cooper to make Cooper’s voice more similar to Bernstein’s, or Lenny’s, voice. “We respect Lenny and his appearance,” Hiro said. “He is very handsome and talented and a great composer and conductor. And when we hear his music, we’re reminded of his commanding style, so it was important to make Bradley as close to Lenny as possible. ” “The truth is, I did this whole project out of love,” Cooper added in an interview on CBS Mornings. “I’m very clear about where I’m coming from.”