CMU School of Drama


Wednesday, October 04, 2023

Bradley Cooper Spent Five Hours in Makeup Chair for ‘Maestro'

IndieWire: Bradley Cooper wanted to fully immerse himself in the role of Leonard Bernstein for his sophomore directorial effort, “Maestro.” That meant Cooper, who co-wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the Netflix film, after much prep work, would often only appear in front of cast and crew after he had physically transformed to resemble Bernstein.

1 comment:

Ana Schroeder said...

I have always found the process for getting ready to perform for film/TV as opposed to theatre so fascinating. The use of a singular actor from the duration of a film that spans a lifetime is one that is expected logically, as film is so personal and catches every characteristic of an actor, but still surprises me when it is done well. As I was reading I felt like I was learning a lot, as I know nothing about prosthetics, but as I actually thought about it, I almost felt a sense of ‘duh.’ I guess I have just never had to think through the process of aging someone. I thought it was so interesting to see how much of a controversy surrounded the nose. I feel as though a lot of people tend to jump to conclusions and are itching to be more politically correct then the next person, but even after the children of Leonard Bernstein came out and said they were involved in the process and their father would approve of his portrayal, people still carried on.