16 August 2023 , 21:22
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Vanessa Feltz has spoken out on the Bradley Cooper ‘Jewface’ controversy, after the Hollywood star wore a prosthetic nose to play Leonard Bernstein.
The hugely talented composer was best known for writing the music for West Side Story, and the life story of the iconic musician is the subject of Bradley’s latest project, the hotly-anticipated biopic Maestro. A new trailer for the upcoming movie, which is set to be released in November, shows The Hangover star opposite British actress Carey Mulligan, and fans were immediately outraged by the large prosthetic nose Bradley has opted to wear to play the role.
Many have already spoken out about the problematic casting of Bradley, who is not Jewish, despite Leonard’s children defending the actor’s decision to “use makeup to amplify his resemblance” to their father. Now Vanessa Feltz, who is Jewish, has weighed in on the row, comparing Bradley’s prosthetic nose to white actors who used to wear blackface, and even suggested other Hollywood actors who would have been better for the role.
Bradley donned a large prosthetic nose to play the famous composer (GC Images)“So in the same way that we no longer think it’s acceptable for a white actor to put a load of makeup on to play a Black person or Black character, this is the same kind of thing,” she explained on her TalkTV show. She said people were objecting to actors wearing a “large prosthetic nose to be even more Jewish and even more stereotypically racist towards Jews,” but also defended Bradley’s decision to wear the prosthetic.
“Well, did Leonard Bernstein… did he actually have a large nose or not? Because if he had a particularly large nose, that’s not a stereotype, that’s just looking like an individual,” Vanessa added.
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While her co-host Josh Rom believed there was “no anti-Semitic intent” in the upcoming film, Vanessa picked out other non-Jewish actors who had played Jewish characters, including Helen Mirren, who portrayed Israeli prime minister Golda Meir. “Choose a Jewish actor and maybe you won’t need a prosthesis” she fired, adding that Schitt’s Creek star Eugene Levy or Jurassic Park icon Jeff Goldblum “would have done a good job”.
Leonard's children Jamie, Alexander, and Nina have defended actor and director Bradley, and said even their father would have been happy with the prosthetic. In a statement, they said: “Bradley Cooper included the three of us along every step of his amazing journey as he made his film about our father.
“We were touched to the core to witness the depth of his commitment, his loving embrace of our father’s music, and the sheer open-hearted joy he brought to his exploration. It breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentations or misunderstandings of his efforts. It happens to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a nice, big nose. Bradley chose to use make-up to amplify his resemblance, and we’re perfectly fine with that. We’re also certain that our dad would have been fine with it as well.
“Any strident complaints around this issue strike us above all as disingenuous attempts to bring a successful person down a notch – a practice we observed all too often perpetrated on our own father. At all times during the making of this film, we could feel the profound respect and yes, the love that Bradley brought to his portrait of Leonard Bernstein and his wife, our mother Felicia. We feel so fortunate to have had this experience with Bradley, and we can’t wait for the world to see his creation.”
Maestro will be released in cinemas on 22 November and on Netflix on 20 December.