Bradley Cooper will play Leonard Bernstein
Wednesday, January 22, 2020 at 8:00PM 
Did you know that Bradley Cooper is now an 8 time Oscar nominee? He received his eighth nomination as a producer of Todd Phillips’ Joker. Only half of these nominations are for acting: Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, American Sniper and A Star is Born. Three are for producing, writing and starring in one film, A Star is Born again. Now he has a chance to add four more nominations with his next project...
Netflix has picked up Bernstein, a biopic about Leonard Bernstein, the legendary conductor and musical maestro behind West Side Story and Candide. Cooper will write, produce, direct and play Bernstein in the film which will focus on the 30 year complicated marriage of Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre. Bernstein was gay as confirmed by Montealegre in the 2013 book, The Leonard Bernstein Letters:
“You are a homosexual and may never change—you don't admit to the possibility of a double life, but if your peace of mind, your health, your whole nervous system depend on a certain sexual pattern what can you do?"
The announcement does not mention any further casting. IMDB though has Carey Mulligan listed as a cast member but without a character name so we don’t know if a) that’s true since anyone can add information on imdb or b) if she's playing someone other than Montealegre. Social media though shows evidence of Cooper and Mulligan meeting the Bernstein family and participating together in the Philadelphia Orchestra celebration of Bernstein last June.
Cooper getting the rights from the Bernstein estate effectively ended a competing biopic that would have teamed Jake Gyllenhall with Cary Fukunaga. Cooper also scored big name producers in Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and his friend Phillips.
Reader Comments (25)
They only award gay characters who die tragically...
Felicia Montealegre's pictures give me some " younger Blanchett" or some "ScarJo" vibes more than a "Mulligan" one...
Bradley Cooper is aging into Jessica Lange.
The project is classic Oscar bait- a biopic about a closeted gay genius - and the soundtrack is going to be amazing
Martin, Steven, and Todd Phillips all seem like an odd match to produce together and for this subject matter.
If I were Cooper, I’d call in someone like Todd Haynes to help or to write. I think he would nail some of the story beats.
I have personally volunteered to play his Love Interest.
Joe G
That is a divine choice.
I think I would have preferred the Fukunaga/Gyllenhaal version instead.
I'm glad Copper got this instead of Gyllenhaal. I'm aware the people here tend to like the latter but I have always found him to be trying too hard in most of his performances. Here's hoping the movie will do justice to Bernstein's music and legacy.
When did Bradley start getting the puffy pillow face? Come out, come out, wherever you are.
@Jans, you (and me) will be banned of The Film Experience LOL.
Poor Jake, but now his desperation to be Hollywood leading man is searching new levels. At least Bradley Cooper can bring Oscar hype and Box office numbers.
God I hope it is him and Mulligan!
Leonard Bernstein! (Bradley Cooper)
Leonid Brezhnev (?)
Lenny Bruce (Dustin Hoffman)
Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman)
Has anyone ever played Leonid Brezhnev in a movie?
This could end up completely wonderful or a "Hyde Park on Hudson" level of nothing or 13 ways in between, but with Coops involved we are going to have to pay attention to it any way.
Annoyed by Cooper's thirst for Oscar gold. You're a white man with abundant access and aren't considered ugly by anyone. I don't buy him as a serious artiste. We've been here before with so many others.
Straight actors and straight directors making movies about gay icons. Will the pinkface ever cease?
Every body adores Cooper, so NO surprise.
Brevity - Don't forget birthday party, cheesecake, jellybean, boom!
Remember when Todd Phillips directed that completely realistic Send in the Clowns scene in Joker? Ugh what a maestro. Such a genius. Best scene of the year. He needs to do a musical ASAP.
@San FranCinema, it's called acting. Sexuality is not like race in so many ways and this is one of them. Sexuality is fluid and amorphous. Read some Foucault. Besides, if you are going to argue that a straight actor can't play a gay character, you're basically also saying a gay actor can't play a straight character. This is why I've never met a serious, intelligent gay actor who goes along with the logic of "only gay can play gay."
@SanFranCinema- gay actors have been playing straight roles for years. You need a star name to make this kind of project.
@Daniella. Thanks for the scolding on sexuality. I'm on it. I'll have to look up this Foucault guy...;)
+
@Jaragon. I don't think - and I didn't say - that only a gay actor can play a gay character or only a straight can play a straight. But we're at a point where the out gay talent pool is strong - and by talent I mean directors as well as actors - and a big prestige project would benefit from creative & casting that brought something more than just (straight) Hollywood insiders telling our community's stories. How many films have suffered because the straight talent doesn't understand the experience of queer characters from the inside, from lived experience, from truth and authenticity? I'm thinking of recent prestige projects like IMITATION GAME, DANISH GIRL, BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, TRANSAMERICA, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, even the much beloved CALL ME BY YOUR NAME. To me they all have their pleasures but they all get something wrong that leaves me longing for the version of these stories told by the people who are from the communities they represent.
I realize I made an essentialist argument in the face of fluidity - my bad - but I hold to my point that there's a broader thinking necessary about who gets to tell the stories of queer experience/queer lives.
San FranCinema, I have to say, you're good natured in your response to criticism. Kind of makes me feel like a bitch for sounding so harsh. Still, I'll take Cate Blanchett in Carol over Anne Heche in Wild Side. Peace.
Thanks, Daniella. I'm here for the movies not the fight. And yes, Cate as Carol is gold. Her (queer) director, producer, and screenwriter all helped make it so. Peace.
Bradley Cooper is like The Grinch playing Leonard Bernstein - his heart is 3 sizes too small.