How Bradley Cooper's brilliant Bernstein biopic made the composer's children cry
Classical-Music.com by BBC Music Magazine
September 15, 2024
Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Jamie Bernstein discuss how Bradley Cooper embodied the late great conductor Leonard Bernstein in appearance, movement and, of course, conducting...
Embodying a musical figure as towering as Leonard Bernstein is a challenge most actors would be intimidated by.
Not just his movements or mannerisms – but his conducting. Bradley Cooper took on the challenge to play Bernstein in Maestro, the acclaimed Netflix biopic, with help from the Metropolitan Opera's music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. We spoke to Nézet-Séguin and to Bernstein's daughter Jamie to find out more about the Hollywood actor's journey to becoming Leonard Bernstein.