Bradley Cooper Studied Conducting For Six Years To Prepare For Role As Leonard Bernstein In ‘Maestro’

When Steven Spielberg broke the news to Bradley Cooper that he would no longer be directing Maestro to focus on West Side Story, Cooper, the slated star set to play Leonard Bernstein, did not simply roll over and accept defeat. Cooper, a lifelong classical music aficionado, decided to try and direct the film himself.

Maestro producer Kristie Macosko Krieger said, “Bradley said to  Steven, ‘OK, well, if you’re not going to direct it, I just finished mixing A Star Is Born, and if you want to come see it, I’ll show it to you right now. If you like it, I’d love to throw my hat in the ring to direct.”

Cooper screened the film for Spielberg and according to Krieger, “Twenty minutes into the film, Steven got up from his chair and Bradley thought, ‘Oh shoot, he’s leaving,’ Instead, Steven walked right up to Bradley and said, ‘you’re directing this fucking movie.'”

With Spielberg on board, Cooper created his vision for the movie that explored the life of composer Leonard Bernstein. Cooper shot in the U.K. and the U.S. on celluloid, mixed black-and-white and color and was shot with a live orchestra on set with Cooper conducting.

Krieger said, “He [Bradley Cooper] thought about the movie for six years, nonstop. I would hazard a guess to say that I’ve probably received 3,000 texts from him, easily, over the course of us making the movie.”

Cooper worked with a multitude of conductors to prepare for the role. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the music director of the Metropolitan Opera worked with Cooper, and said, “He was the first conductor on the podium who allowed himself to completely embody the music and not just the this taskmaster with a stick in one hand, directing traffic. He lived the music in every part of body. His eyebrows were conducting just as much as his hands.”

Nézet-Séguin was also present on set during the filming of the movie via an earpiece, where the conductor would talk to the actor about where to land beats.

“His commitment to authenticity was not only so it was right, but it was also to generate the right level of emotion and intensity,” said Nézet-Séguin. “True conducting and true music-making – there is something unique about it.”