LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Bradley Cooper has finally opened up about the backlash he has been receiving over the past year for putting on a prosthetic nose to play Leonard Bernstein in his upcoming film, 'Maestro'.
The movie is a biopic of the legendary composer and is set to premiere on Netflix on December 20. Cooper also dons the role of co-writer and director in the project.
When did the prosthetic nose controversy begin?
Netflix released production stills of 'Maestro' back in June 2022, and the first trailer came out in August. Since then, the fake nose has been part of the conversation, with some critics raising concerns about the resemblance to Bernstein's actual nose and its potential reinforcement of harmful stereotypes.
Jewish actress Tracy-Ann Oberman reportedly told Page Six, "If Bradley Cooper is able to play the Elephant Man without any prosthetics, he should be able to play a Jewish man without any need for prosthetics — especially a ‘Jewish’ nose."
However, Joshua Molina, the renowned Jewish actor, came in defense of Cooper, saying, "I do not take issue with Bradley Cooper being made to look like a real person. Jews do not, in fact, have bigger noses than other people do; Leonard Bernstein did. That’s the end of the story for me.”
Bradley Cooper's take on the controversy
In an interview with 'CBS Mornings', Cooper told host Gayle King that he had initially considered not using the prosthetic for the movie, but changed his mind later to better bring Bernstein to life on screen.
"I thought, 'Maybe we don't need to do it because we can take time off,' but I realized that it was important to me to get as close to Lenny as possible," he said.
"I know that some people have been critical of the prosthetic, but I think it's important to remember that this is a film about a real person, and I wanted to do everything I could to honor him," he added.
Leonard Bernstein's children supported Bradley Cooper's use of prosthetics
Jamie, Alexander, and Nina Bernstein released a statement on social media that read, "We were touched to the core to witness the depth of his commitment, his loving embrace of our father’s music, and the sheer open-hearted joy he brought to his exploration."
"It breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentations of misunderstandings of his efforts. It happens to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a nice, big nose. Bradley chose to use makeup to amplify his resemblance, and we’re perfectly fine with that,” they added.
They noted that their late father “would have been fine with it as well.”
Internet reacts to Bradley Cooper's remarks
Netizens have stood by the actor on social media, as the following tweets demonstrate.
"This is absurd. If a prosthetic makes you look more like the character, why not? The assumption of the objectors here is that the bigger nose is ethnic and therefore ugly and it’s racist to even portray it. That’s a lot of projection," wrote a user.
"Wait until you find out about the prosthetics Gary Oldman wore to play Churchill — or the fake mole that Daniel Day-Lewis wore to play Lincoln — or the prosthetic teeth Rami Malek wore to play Freddie Mercury — OR, perhaps, you could just get over yourself.?" posted a second.
"Bernstein’s children were totally fine with it as it is ACTING and people wear costumes etc," stated another.
"Why should he have to defend this? Thought trying to look like the person you're portraying is something that has always been done? Woke mob won't be happy unless the deceased composer rises from the dead & plays himself," someone else said.
"It’s called acting. Michael Keaton doesn’t really look like Beetlejuice either," quipped another.
