Bradley Cooper Is Unrecognizable In First Look At Leonard Bernstein Biopic

Bradley Cooper looks almost unrecognizable in the makeup for the new film that he has written, directed, and will star in.

By James Brizuela | Published

bradley cooper

Bradley Cooper made his directorial debut with the film; A Star is Born. This film landed a Best Original Song win at the Academy Awards. Now Cooper is set to return to the starring and director’s chair as he is set to direct a biopic about Leonard Bernstein called Maestro. Bernstein is one of the most recognizable and important composers of all time. Though the film was originally supposed to be made by Steven Spielberg, it has been passed over to Cooper. The film will debut on Netflix and the streaming giant has now revealed the first look images of the film. You can see Cooper look almost unrecognizable below:

The makeup crew has done a spectacular job, as Bradley Cooper looks almost unrecognizable. Leonard Bernstein had a bigger set of ears and a nose, which is what has been placed on Cooper presumably done with prosthetics. He looks amazing as Bernstein. In the images, Cooper is standing alongside Carey Mulligan who is portraying the role of Bernstein’s wife, Felicia Montealegre. This will be the first film since A Star is Born that Cooper will direct.

As previously mentioned, the idea was that Steven Spielberg was initially attached to the biographical drama, with Bradley Cooper set to star in it. However, Cooper had other ideas about directing and writing the feature. According to the actor, “Steven has a lot of interests — he’ll just choose one thing and all of the other things will be on hold. I think he knew he wasn’t going to make that movie for a while. He was kind enough to hand it off to me, and that’s what I’ve been doing for the last four and a half years.” It has got to be a special feeling for a director as high caliber as Spielberg to pass work he had intended to complete to another person. Not to knock Cooper, but this will only be the second feature that he has directed.

Bradley Cooper has been researching, writing, and cultivating this film for over four years now, and all his hard work is going to be revealed soon. Maestro has a release date of 2023. The idea was to have the film released in theaters and or on Netflix, but it appears as if the film is heading straight to Netflix. The images of Cooper and Mulligan were shared by the streaming platform after all. Cooper has become one of the biggest actors in show business, and he is coming off the rave reviews he received in Nightmare Alley, a film directed by Guillermo Del Toro.

Maestro will see a 2023 release date on Netflix. Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan costar alongside one another as Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre. The film will take a biographical journey through the life of one of the most important conductors that are responsible for one of the most recognizable and important musicals that have ever been created, West Side Story. Steven Spielberg directed the adaptation of that play recently, which was also highly regarded. It makes sense that the director wanted to honor the man responsible for that musical, but now that lands squarely on Cooper’s shoulders. We can’t wait to see how this film turns out, and see how amazing Cooper is in the film.