How Bradley Cooper Transformed Himself Into Leonard Bernstein for 'Maestro'

Bradley Cooper had a long list of "non-negotiable" requirements when it came to starring in and directing his critically acclaimed Leonard Bernstein biopic, Maestro, one of the movie's producers revealed to Newsweek.

After enjoying critical and commercial success through helming and starring in the 2018 hit A Star Is Born, Cooper has pulled quadruple duty (also co-writing and co-producing) in his film about the life of the legendary conductor, who brought the world West Side Story and On the Town, among other enduring works.

The movie, which debuted on Netflix on Wednesday, largely follows Bernstein away from the world of his career, shining a light on his marriage to Costa Rican-born actress Felicia Montealegre, stunningly portrayed by Carey Mulligan.

Bernstein's adoration for his wife is not enough to surmount the strain brought on by his repeated infidelities. While Montealegre is shown initially believing she can overlook her bisexual husband's affairs with male suitors, his infidelity ultimately leads to the demise of their union.

With the film having already been on limited release for a month, it has now debuted on Netflix to much fanfare—and after months of labor on the set.

Producer Kristie Macosko Krieger told Newsweek that Cooper was quite the marvel to watch and a rewarding challenge to work with—particularly because the multi-hyphenate star had set such high standards when it came to the production.

"Bradley didn't make it an easy situation for us," Krieger said with a laugh. "He wanted to shoot the movie in the hallowed halls where Lenny and Felicia lived their lives. So he wanted to shoot a tango, he wanted to shoot at Carnegie Hall, he wanted to shoot in Ely Cathedral, he wanted to shoot at The Plaza, he wanted to shoot in Central Park. He wanted to shoot in the Dakota, but we couldn't shoot in the Dakota, so we had to build the Dakota to look exactly like their apartment did.

"And so making [Maestro] in the real spaces, he wanted to shoot live music, he wanted to shoot on film. These are all things that were non-negotiable for him. And he wanted to shoot with the prosthetic makeup and he wanted to shoot it over five decades. So like all of those things made it like the triple Salchow to accomplish. It was not an easy film to make."

But, added Krieger, "it was the right way to make the film. And he knew that that was exactly what we should do. And that was the way to tell the story of their lives."

Storm of Controversy

More than a year before Maestro even made it to the screen, much was made of the fact that Cooper had leaned on prosthetics to resemble Bernstein, who was Jewish. The controversy saw accusations of "ethnic cosplay" thrown into the mix, and also sparked discussion over whether such a move was antisemitic.

"I think for us, it was just [that] we were going for authenticity," Krieger told Newsweek of the decision to use prosthetics. "We were going to make Bradley Cooper look like Leonard Bernstein because that made sense for the story. And he had to look like Leonard Bernstein over the course of five decades."

"I think that we worked as authentically as possible to make it happen," she added. "And we layered makeup on his face—and it was all different pieces. It was cheeks, it was forehead, it was neck, it was hands... It was everything. It wasn't just one thing. I think everybody to talk about one thing and it wasn't necessary."

Getting Cooper into physical character took five-and-a-half hours each day. "Bradley would sit in the makeup chair...at 1 o'clock in the morning to be on set at 7 o'clock, ready to set up the day and to shoot dressed and in full hair and makeup as Leonard Bernstein," said Krieger. "He wouldn't have done that if he didn't think that it was the right way to go."

An Education

Away from makeup, part of the effort to achieve the authenticity included consulting with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, music director of Montréal's Orchestre Métropolitain, New York City's Metropolitan Opera and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

"My role as conducting consultant was to coach [Cooper] at becoming Lenny in a believable way," Nézet-Séguin told Newsweek. "He got so many things right to begin with by watching videos of Bernstein, his shoulders and everything. But there is a technique of conducting."

"When we watch Bernstein, it's feels so personal," he continued. "We think, 'Oh, he's doing whatever with the music.' But no, it's actually a very strict code. So my role was to give [Cooper] that technical assurance and security whilst leaving him in the zone, so he could really lose himself in the music."

Nézet-Séguin revealed that he "coached the orchestra, but also I coached [Cooper] via an earpiece... We kind of found the code, he and I, to almost subconsciously guide him so he would feel secure to really just express."

As for how he rates Cooper as a student, Nézet-Séguin enthused: "Oh my God, I think he's more than a 10. It's insane actually... That Mahler symphony is one of the biggest and most complex pieces of music ever. So it's difficult for a professional conductor, let alone a non-conductor. But he's very musical. He was feeling the music very much."

"He's was surprisingly knowledgeable also about many pieces of music," Nézet-Séguin added of Cooper. "And he did so much research. He went to so many concerts of mine and of other conductors and rehearsals to understand the process."

So impressed was Nézet-Séguin with watching Cooper immerse himself in the role that he's now mulling the idea of adding another string to his own bow. "I'm actually inspired maybe to one day, in my free time, direct a movie," he said.

'Authentic Experience'

Directing and starring in such a big production would challenge even the most hardy person, but producer Krieger told Newsweek, Cooper "is indefatigable, he never looked exhausted. He never raised his voice to any human on the set. He created a family and we all worked together. He was also honing the costumes, he was honing the production design, he was working with Kazu [Hiro, prosthetic makeup artist] and making it better every day."

"He was just so set on making it truly an authentic experience for everyone that he had to, there was no way around it," she added. "The script was going to be right, the way we made the movie was going to be right. Nothing was good enough for Bradley, and we all sort of upped our game to work as hard as he worked."

The efforts, it would seem, have paid off, with striking shots and memorable performances also from the likes of Matt Bomer, Sarah Silverman, Maya Hawke and Michael Urie, to name a few.

Speaking of Mulligan, Kreiger told Newsweek she was "incredible" in her role, adding: "When she first appears on screen until her death is like truly one of the greatest feats that I've seen on camera in I don't even know how long. She was so beautifully strong as Felicia. And also understated in a way that at the beginning. You're not sure where it's going. And then she just like this powerhouse that takes over."

However, West Side Story fans be warned: Maestro is not a showcase of Bernstein's greatest hits, nor does it offer a behind-the-scenes look at how his works came to be.

"It was all about telling the story of the marriage," Krieger explained. "And so anything that didn't drive the story forward in that way, we decided to not do. I could tell you that the Young People's Concerts was a big thing in Leonard Bernstein's life, but we didn't need it for this story. So we just sort of [brought] together what was the most important pieces of the story to tell the story of their marriage.

"What's interesting, too, is that I think some people that are going into it thinking it's going to be a traditional biopic might be a little bit like, 'Wait a minute, I wanted to see how he made West Side Story!' But you can see that in a documentary on his life... This is a way to tell the story in in a different way. It actually teaches you something new that you don't know about Lenny."

Maestro is currently streaming on Netflix.