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.