Maestro filmmaker and star Bradley Cooper admires the courage he saw his colleagues exhibit in making the Netflix movie about Leonard Bernstein and wife Felicia Montealegre.
In a behind-the-scenes video that is exclusive to The Hollywood Reporter and can be seen below, Cooper is joined by co-stars Carey Mulligan and Sarah Silverman, in addition to production designer Kevin Thompson, costume designer Mark Bridges, editor Michelle Tesoro and others who worked on the film. The team share favorite memories from the shoot and celebrate Cooper for all the multitasking that the project required.
“To work with people who were able to be as brave as I felt we all needed to be to tell this story, that is a blessing for me, and it was divine,” Cooper says in the video. “Everybody had equal love for Lenny and Felicia. It really was a common goal — like, all we were thinking about was, ‘What’s the best way to tell the movie?’”
Maestro stars Cooper as legendary composer and conductor Bernstein — known for writing the music for West Side Story, among other works — and Mulligan as Montealegre, with the film focusing on their relationship’s ups and downs amid Bernstein’s career success. The movie, which Cooper co-wrote with Josh Singer, is currently playing in select theaters before hitting Netflix on Dec. 20 and is considered a strong Oscar contender, with Cooper’s lead performance in particular garnering major buzz.
“The production design, the costume design, the makeup, the acting, the script — it all was to story, always,” Cooper continues. “I feel like we fulfilled our goal, and it was because we were all on the same page, and that’s gold for a filmmaker.”
Mulligan is among those in the video praising the director, whose days frequently began with four hours in the makeup chair. “He really had the whole thing in his mind,” the actress recalls. “But then he was always spontaneous. He would find things and say, ‘Well, this is essential. We need to grab this.’”
She adds, “He did create a set that was like acting heaven, where you could just sort of go anywhere, and it was so much fun.”
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