Actor Bradley Cooper underwent an incredible transformation for his part playing Leonard Bernstein in the new movie Maestro, a change that left him almost completely unrecognizable.
Oscar nominee 47-year-old Cooper is starring and directing in another movie set to premiere next year; this one is all about the life and marriage of renowned composer Leonard Bernstein, who is best known for his work creating the score for West Side Story.
Bradley Cooper is taking on the role of Bernstein himself, and Carey Mulligan will play his wife. The movie will span 30 years, so Cooper will have to change his appearance dramatically if he is to mirror Bernstein at various ages. And it appears that he’s done that very well.
Bradley Cooper transferred into an old and young Bradley Cooper
Images have been released from the film set that shows Cooper in the role of both a young and an older Bernstein, and he looks almost entirely unrecognizable.
Netflix released five promotional pictures from filming; three images show Mulligan and Cooper looking very retro in Bernstein’s younger years.
And two additional photos show Cooper with grey hair, looking heavier and wearing age-enhancing prosthetics. The change is quite impressive.
Fans commenting below couldn’t help but be wowed by Cooper’s transformation. One fan simply wrote: “perfect.”
Another fan asked, “Well, is it finally time for a long deserved Oscar for Mulligan and Cooper?” and commenting directly on the make up, one fan wrote: “Well I know who’s’ winning make-up next year at the Oscars, holy cow.”
According to Page Six, Cooper will be playing Bernstein from his youth until his death at 72, when the composer passed away because of a heart attack due to lung failure.
Cooper and Josh Singer co-wrote the script, and Hollywood giants Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg have been linked to the producing side of things.
In January, Cooper told Stephen Colbert on the Late Show that he had been a big fan of music conducting when he was a child, describing himself as “obsessed” and claiming he’d spent hours practicing. He also said that Steven Spielberg had asked him to star in and direct Maestro.
Bradley Cooper will focus on the life and marriage of Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein lived from 1918 until 1990 and was hugely revered for his work on West Side Story and On The Waterfront. According to Deadline, he became famous after making his conducting debut at the New York Philharmonic at just 25 years old. He had to step in at the last minute when a colleague became ill.
Bernstein was later blacklisted during the McCarthy era but was eventually cleared of being a communist. He was a vocal critic of the Vietnam War and a Civil Rights movement supporter.
Maestro is expected to begin streaming on Netflix sometime in 2023.