16 August 2023 , 07:56
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Hollywood star Bradley Cooper has sparked a furious backlash following the release of a trailer for his upcoming film Maestro as he is accused of employing offensive Jewish stereotypes.
The 48-year-old actor plays iconic American conductor, composer and musician Leonard Bernstein in the new film, which he has also directed. Leonard, who lived from 1918 until 1990, was a prized musician winning scores of accolades in his lifetime for music he created for films, including West Side Story.
And across his career he bagged seven Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards and 16 Grammy Awards - as well as an Oscar nomination for his work on the 1954 film On the Waterfront. Bradley has been working on a film to bring Leonard’s life to screen - with Maestro being produced by legendary star Steven Spielberg, who is Jewish.
Early shots form the film have shown Bradley with a prosthetic nose which many film fans are slamming as stereotyping Jewish people - and drawing criticism of anti-Semitism against the actor-director. The fact that Bradley himself is not Jewish has also drawn criticism - while co-star Carey Mulligan is playing Leonard’s wife, Felicia Bernstein, and the British actress has been panned for accepting a role of a half Jewish half Costa Rican woman.
Bradley Cooper has been criticised for using a prosthetic nose to play a new role (GC Images)
Bradley is playing Leonard Bernstein in the new biopic (Getty Images)One film fan hit out at Bradley on social media for exaggerating the size of Leonard’s nose - which many have pointed out did not look as large as the way it is being portrayed in the film. They wrote online: “It seems completely unnecessary to have gone in that direction given the uncanny resemblance.”
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Another wrote: “There was no need for Bradley Cooper to add an odd prosthetic nose on top of this to play Leonard Bernstein.” While another noted: “The real Leonard Bernstein did not have the funny nose that Bradley Cooper is wearing in Maestro.”
And another accused the Oscar nominated star of ‘Jewface’, writing: “Bradley Cooper wearing a prosthetic nose to play Leonard Bernstein is the equivalent of Black face. He should be able to portray the character through the magnificence of his own acting.”
Carey Mulligan has been slammed for playing Leonard's hispanic wife (Netflix)Many others have slammed Bradley for casting himself in the lead role when he himself is not Jewish - with one lamenting that there are “so many great Jewish actors out there” that could have landed the role. While others have noted that Jewish actor Jake Gyllenhaal had been competing to make a similar biopic about Leonard before Bradley and his producing team won the race to get cameras rolling.
Meanwhile, Carey has been slammed for playing a hispanic historical figure when she herself is white and British. One critic writing for Collider slammed the casting choice writing: "Mulligan will be playing the legendary composer's wife, Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein, who was born in Costa Rica and grew up in Chile. Her mother was Costa Rican, and her father was American, as well as Jewish. Mulligan certainly looks like Felicia, but she's English, so I'm not sure I'm buying her as half-Costa Rican, or even half-Jewish, to be honest."
Maestro will be granted a limited cinematic release on 22 November 2023 before becoming available to stream via Netflix on 20 December 2023.