Bradley Cooper in ‘Maestro’.Photo:Jason McDonald/Netflix
Jason McDonald/Netflix
Bradley Cooperhad a very particular vision when it came to tellingLeonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre’s storyinMaestro.
During a panel in Los Angeles on Friday with the producers of the 2024 Oscars’ Best Picture nominees, Cooper, 49, elaborated on some of the challenges he faced while working onMaestro, which earned seven nominations this year.
“He had these crazy demands like shooting in black and white, 35-millimeter stock and a 1:3:3 aspect ratio, and half the movie had black and white, and shooting it live and wanting to be on location,” he continued of his own outrageous “demands” as he helmed the project.
“And we were losing our minds. But we all band[ed] together and we tried to give him what he wanted,” he said of the cast, who includedCarey Mulligan,Matt Bomer,Maya HawkeandSarah Silverman.
arey Mulligan as Felicia Montealegre and Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein in ‘Maestro’.Jason McDonald/Netflix
Cooper added, however, that there’s “one superpower” he has that helped him push this passion project through, despite years of delays. “I don’t take anything personally. That’s the thing you have to learn right away. Just — it’s business, man.”
Maestroearned a Best Picture nod at this year’s Academy Awards, but Cooper himself is also up for Best Actor, and Mulligan earned a nod for Best Actress for her portrayal of the conductor’s wife.
Cooper, on the other hand, said: “I was taking my daughter to school, so I missed the beginning of it. And then I came home, put it on in the kitchen, and my mom and I watched.”
Of how he’s been feeling amid the buzz of the handful of nominations, he added, “I feel like I’m present for all of it. This is just joy — the fact that this movie is recognized.”
Bradley Cooper speaks onstage during the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on February 24, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
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A big part of creating the film was involving the conductor’s children, Jamie, 71, Alexander, 68, and Nina, 61, whomhe kept in constant contact with throughout filming.
“The way he embraced us as he went along in this project — he was so open-hearted,” Jamie told PEOPLE of Cooper. “We wound up feeling like we could trust him.”
She added of his performance, “We had no idea that Bradley had this level of intensity and commitment about a thing when he got it in his grip. There are even certain moments in the film, when he’s in motion, where he looks so exactly like our dad it makes us gasp.”
source: people.com
