Bradley Cooper does not shy away from fully immersing himself in his characters, revealing he spent six years how to compose music for Maestro.
Cooper, 48, returns to the directors chair and plays composer Leonard Bernstein in the upcoming biopic Maestro, in theaters November 22.
He revealed to moderator Lin-Manuel Miranda during a New York City tastemaker screening that he spent six years to learn composing… for a six-minute scene.
The scene in question was capturing Bernstein’s iconic performance conducting the 1976 London Symphony Orchestra in Ely Cathedral, which ‘terrified’ Cooper.
‘That scene I was so worried about because we did it live. That was the London Symphony Orchestra. I was recorded live, I had to conduct them,’ Cooper said.
Bradley learns: Bradley Cooper does not shy away from fully immersing himself in his characters, revealing he spent six years how to compose music for Maestro
Director and star: Cooper, 48, returns to the directors chair and plays composer Leonard Bernstein in the upcoming biopic Maestro, in theaters November 22
Six minutes: He revealed to moderator Lin-Manuel Miranda during a New York City tastemaker screening that he spent six years to learn composing… for a six-minute scene
‘And I spent six years learning how to conduct six minutes and 21 seconds of music,’ he admitted, while crediting his ‘wonderful teachers’ for all their help along the way.
‘I was able to get the raw take where I just watched Leonard Bernstein [conduct] at Ely Cathedral with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1976,’ Cooper said.
‘And so I had that to study. And Yannick Nézet-Séguin made videos with all the tempo changes, so I had all of the materials to just work on,’ he continued.
‘It was really about dialing exactly what I wanted cinematically and theninviting them into then inhabit that space and trusting that they have all done the work,’ Cooper added.
‘Because I think that I knew, I was terrified, absolutely terrified that if I hadn’t done the work that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself in these scenes. And everybody did,’ he said.
Miranda praised Cooper’s, ‘extraordinary directing style during the Q&A, adding, ‘The metaphor of a director as conductor is not lost on me in watching this.
‘And obviously you love conducting in every sense. That sequence at the end is so insane and that she’s standing and then it pans just a little left and she’s there, I mean that is all one continuous sequence is really mind-boggling and incredible work,’ Miranda added.
Miranda also applauded Cooper using a Dream Ballet filming technique, which he thought, ‘died with MGM musicals,’ joking that now it’s, ‘fair game for the next game and that made me really happy.’
Six years for six minutes: ‘And I spent six years learning how to conduct six minutes and 21 seconds of music,’ he admitted, while crediting his ‘wonderful teachers’ for all their help along the way
Real Leonard and Felicia: The real Leonard Bernstein and wife Felicia Montealegre, played by Carey Mulligan in Maestro
Maestro had its world premiere at the prestigious Venice Film Festival, where it earned a 7-minute standing ovation.
The film and the amazing reception brought Bernstein’s three children – Jamie Bernstein, Alexander Bernstein and Nina Maria Felicia Bernstein – to tears.
The film will hit theaters in limited release on November 22, followed by its December 20 release on the Netflix streaming service.
Cooper’s performancee and direction have both been praised in early reviews, so it’s possible he could pick up multiple Oscar nominations like he did with his writing and directing debut, A Star Is Born, where he was nominated for writing, acting and producing.
