Leonard Bernstein’s children are addressing the backlash Bradley Cooper has received for his transformation into the legendary musician in Maestro.
The actor came under fire after the first footage from the upcoming Netflix film saw him sporting a prosthetic nose while playing the West Side Story composer, who was Jewish. However, Bernstein’s kids Jamie, Alexander and Nina Bernstein have come to his defense.
“Bradley Cooper included the three of us along every step of his amazing journey as he made his film about our father,” they said in a statement posted to Instagram on Aug. 16. “We were touched to the core to witness the depth of his commitment, his loving embrace of our father’s music, and the sheer open-hearted joy he brought to his exploration. It breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentations or misunderstandings of his efforts.”
The trio noted they didn’t have any issues with Cooper’s appearance in the movie.
“It happens to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a nice, big nose,” they continued. “Bradley chose to use makeup to amplify his resemblance, and we’re perfectly fine with that. We’re also certain that our dad would have been fine with it as well. Any strident complaints around this issue strike us above all as disingenuous attempts to bring a successful person down a notch—a practice we observed all too often perpetrated on our own father.”
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