Bradley Cooper is well aware that some of the stylistic choices may have been a burden on his Maestro cast and crew.
Some directors can be genuine pains to work for. Maybe they’re volatile, maybe their vision isn’t clear, maybe they ask for too much from their actors. For Bradley Cooper, it was the ridiculous demands of his Maestro director that drove him crazy. Wait a minute…
At a recent event (via People), Bradley Cooper joked that the biggest onset challenge making Maestro was “the f*cking director.” The self-deprecation also served as a highlight of some of the movie’s technical aspects. “He had these crazy demands like shooting in black and white, 35-millimeter stock and a 1:3:3 aspect ratio, and half the movie had black and white, and shooting it live and wanting to be on location.” And this is all without mentioning his 1 a.m. call times! He added, “And we were losing our minds. But we all band[ed] together and we tried to give him what he wanted.”
For Cooper, what he wanted for Maestro was all on display for audiences and critics, earning enough praise and industry acclaim for it to nab seven Oscar nominations, including three for Cooper for producing, acting and writing (perhaps his directorial habits were too intense for voters?). Carey Mulligan, who plays Leonard Bernstein’s wife Felicia, was also nominated, as was the sound and makeup/hairstyling, which itself garnered controversy for some viewing it as an example of “Jewface.” Right now, the highest odds of Maestro taking home gold are in that category, if not just for it having the most press to it.
Bradley Cooper no doubt put a lot of blood, sweat and tears – especially sweat! – into Maestro, so it is nice to see that he has a sense of humor about some of his methods and needs for the movie. This is especially so since Maestro won’t be nabbing him a single Oscar, something he seems to have been after for quite some time now. You might be surprised to know that this trio of nominations brings Cooper’s total to 12: five for acting, five for producing and two for writing. Will he ever be nominated for Best Director?
Where do you think Maestro ranks in Bradley Cooper’s filmography? Do you expect Maestro to win any Oscars this year?