‘Maestro’ First Look: Bradley Cooper Transforms Into Leonard Bernstein in ‘A Star Is Born’ Follow-Up

Bradley Cooper is fully transformed in the first look at his Netflix-backed biographical drama “Maestro,” which serves as his directorial follow-up to Oscar winner “A Star Is Born.”

Set photos from the movie were released by the streaming giant on Monday, showing Cooper opposite co-star Carey Mulligan. Cooper stars in “Maestro” as esteemed Broadway composer Leonard Bernstein, with Carey Mulligan playing Bernstein’s wife Felicia Montealegre. The photos show Bernstein at various ages, with impressive make-up work applied to Cooper to nail his look as an elderly Bernstein.

More from Variety

• Natasha Lyonne Reveals Original 'Russian Doll' Season 2 Plans and Why She Kind of Digs 'Bizarro Duality' of Fan Reaction

• 'Stranger Things' Season 4 Is All Ambition, No Fun: Column

• Disney+ Hotstar Hits 5 Million Subscribers in Indonesia as Southeast Asia SVOD Grows - Study

As Cooper confirmed to Variety earlier this year, production on “Maestro” started this month. Moviegoers shouldn’t expect to see the film released until 2023. Steven Spielberg was originally attached to direct a Bernstein biographical drama and recruited Cooper to star in it. Cooper was coming off “A Star Is Born” at the time and was more interested in writing and directing movies than taking on an acting role for someone else, even Spielberg.

“I [told Spielberg], ‘I always felt like I could play a conductor, but may I research the material and see if I can write it and direct it? Would you let me do that?’” Cooper said. “Steven has a lot of interests — he’ll just choose one thing and all of the other things will be on hold. I think he knew he wasn’t going to make that movie for a while. He was kind enough to hand it off to me, and that’s what I’ve been doing for the last four and a half years.”

Scott Stuber, the head of global films at Netflix, updated Variety last December on the pre-production of “Maestro,” saying, “We’ve done a lot of work on the makeup. We’ve done a lot of work on the voice. I’m excited to see someone so deeply focused on creating a story that means so much to him. And Carey Mulligan is an incredible actress.”

Cooper’s 2018 directorial debut “A Star Is Born” memorably paired him with Lady Gaga to the tune of $436 million worldwide and eight Oscar nominations, including best picture.

Check out first look photos from “Maestro” in the post below.

Best of Variety

• Everything Coming to Netflix in June 2022

• What's Coming to Disney+ in June 2022

• Molly Shannon's Memoir 'Hello Molly' Is Already an Instant Bestseller on Amazon

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.