Bradley Cooper Used Nose Plug to 'Change His Voice' for 'Maestro,' Reveals Makeup Designer

The film's co-writer Josh Singer said Cooper "literally could channel" Leonard Bernstein: "That's how deep he went"

Bradley Cooper had several tricks up his sleeve — and nose — when transforming into Leonard Bernstein.

In addition to starring as the iconic conductor in Maestro, Cooper also directs the film that he co-wrote.

During a press conference at the New York Film Festival on Tuesday (which Cooper, 48, had to forgo due to the ongoing actors' strike), makeup designer Kazu Hiro revealed ways Cooper found the character's speaking voice.

"We made a nose plug. He wanted to talk like and sound like Lenny," Hiro explained of Cooper's request to "change his voice."

The makeup artist gave Cooper a nose plug with different sized holes to wear inside the prosthetic nose, making for a "nasally" outcome. "Lenny's nose was wider than Bradley's, so I made it wider at the same time to change his nose shape and voice too," he said.

Bernstein, who popularized classical music through television specials and composed for projects like West Side Story, died in 1990 at age 72. Maestro also tells the story of his wife, actress Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan), and their family life.

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Related: Leonard Bernstein's Kids Defend Bradley Cooper amid Prosthetic Nose Controversy: He Has 'Profound Respect'

Their daughter Jamie remarked during the NYFF press conference how Hiro captured her dad's appearance, down to the ears. For the scenes near the end of Bernstein's life, Cooper required five hours in the makeup chair, Hiro explained.

"I was so impressed by how perfectly you were able to recreate my father's ears," Jamie said.

Since the majority of the music is performed live for the camera in Maestro, Cooper also had to do a crash course in conducting. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the conducting consultant for the film, explained the challenges of training Cooper to portray the "most-documented" conductor ever.

"He's a fabulous actor. His research is incredible and relentless and fantastic and so detailed and deep," said Nézet-Séguin. "He came to me knowing the mimics ... but how do you make it believable so he can conduct...?"

"We didn't start from scratch. It was more to take where he was and give him some technical assurance whilst leaving him free to be Leonard Bernstein as an actor," added Nézet-Séguin, music director of The Metropolitan Opera.

(Cooper previously said in a 2022 Variety interview that he "wanted to be a conductor since I was a kid. I was obsessed with it, asked Santa Claus for a baton when I was 8.")

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Co-writer Josh Singer said Cooper had personal recordings and tapes of the Bernstein family that he "listened to ad nauseam." Singer added, "So much so that he used to be able to write stuff and I'd go, 'Oh, which book did you get that from?' and he'd go, 'No, no, no; I just wrote that.' "

"He literally could channel Lenny in that way. That's how deep he went. Bradley was a lightning rod once he came on," said Singer.

Maestro — which also stars Matt Bomer, Maya Hawke, Sarah Silverman, Josh Hamilton, Gideon Glick and Miriam Shor — is on Netflix Dec. 20.

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