Bradley Cooper’s nose raises eyebrows
Will the prosthetics worn by the actor to play composer Leonard Bernstein taint Netflix's new film ?
Brigit Grant is the Jewish News Supplements Editor
The Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro doesn’t open until November, but it has been talked about for months – and for one reason. Bradley Cooper’s nose. The announcement about the extra length being added prosthetically to the actor’s near- perfect – but generous – snout, was made soon after the heated Jewface debate over Helen Mirren playing Golda Meir. But if the thespian furore about the Dame being cast as the Israeli PM threw us off the scent, we were right back on it this week, when Netflix released the Maestro trailer, debuting Cooper’s conk which is hard to miss and largely because we were given the heads up…. about ‘the nose’.
On a positive note, the offending feature is not as prominent as the proboscis Steve Martin acquired to parody Cyrano De Bergerac in Roxanne (1987). Cooper’s other worthy attributes also distract and we will warm to his interpretation of Bernstein, which by all accounts is accurate. Casting himself in the role was therefore a wise move, but why did he and the production feet the need to give their star the Pinocchio treatment? Bernstein was a musical genius, but also a head turner – and for both sexes – which is an achievement. Google his name and up come Bernstein sites created by adoring fans and such dedicated pages as Classic FM’s’ 12 ridiculously gorgeous photos of Leonard Bernstein.
A man with ‘a ‘biblical look, handsome and nervy as the shepherd David who would soon be king’ is how he was described in The New York Times obituary following his death in 1990 and his glamour was referenced in hundreds of other eulogies, but without a single mention of his nose.
Had Cooper been asked to play Jimmy ‘the great schnozzola’ Durante, then wheel on the prosthetic team, but the West Side Story composer who won 16 Grammys and seven Tonys doesn’t need a posthumous screen tribute picking on his nose. Described as a touching ode that centres on the relationship between Bernstein and his wife, actress Felicia Montealegre, played by Carey Mulligan, Maestro will also reveal more about the composer’s life as a gay man, and this like the nose has the approval of his eldest daughter, Jamie who is half- Jewish and played in the film by Stranger Things Maya Hawke (Jewish). Unperturbed by any ‘honker’ criticism, Jamie isn’t bothered that Cooper isn’t Jewish either and told Kveller.com that she was simply moved to see her parents played by actors who have “something uncanny and emotionally resonant” about them while breathing life into the story.
That Sarah Silverman plays Bernstein’s sister Shirley in Maestro puts a spin on both the nose and the casting, as the actor was at the forefront of the Jewface debate and appeared in David Baddiel’s doc Jews Don’t Count. Sarah in fact coined the term ‘Jewface’, which might have slipped her memory when she was offered the part and the pay cheque. But an actor has to work and there are lots of Jewish ones in Maestro including Alexa Swinton (And Just Like That…) as Bernstein’s daughter, Nina, Miriam Shor as actress Cynthia O’Neill and Michael Urie playing Bernstein’s frequent collaborator, dancer and choreographer Jerome Robbins. With its cast of Jews and what can only be a marvellous score, the nose won’t cast a shadow over this film for long. Let’s face it, in Hollywood a new nose is no big deal, though it will be interesting to see Bradley Cooper’s portrayal of Harry Belafonte.
Take a look www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU6GbM5c9aE
Maestro is released in November, and will be streaming on Netflix from December 20.
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