The cameras started rolling relatively recently, but we're already being treated to a first look at Bradley Cooper's latest co-writing/directing/starring effort, Maestro, in which he plays legendary composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein.
While Steven Spielberg initially approached Cooper about starring, the actor asked if he could instead take over the project behind the scenes as well, as Maestro started to linger on Spielberg's To Do list.
The drama spans over 30 years, and chronicles Bernstein’s fascinating career: he made his conducting debut at the New York Philharmonic aged 25 when he had to step in at short notice due to a colleague’s illness. He did so well his star was launched the next day when his feat made the front page of The New York Times.
He was blacklisted before being cleared of being a communist just before he composed the Oscar-nominated score for On the Waterfront, and he was an activist in the civil rights movement, and outspoken on issues including ending the Vietnam War. The through line for the movie, though, is the complex story of the marriage between Bernstein and his wife, Felicia Montealegre (played by Carey Mulligan).
Perhaps the most impressive element here is the make-up that transforms Cooper into Bernstein in the 1980s – an astonishing feat that makes him almost unrecognizable.
Cooper co-wrote the script with Oscar-winning Spotlight scribe Josh Singer. The cast also includes Matt Bomer and Maya Hawke, and the film will be arriving in cinemas ahead of a Netflix release next year.