‘Maestro’ may finally win Bradley Cooper that elusive Best Actor Oscar

Bradley Cooper has gone from the star of “The Hangover” films to a nine-time Academy Award nominee. His career is something to marvel at but, at this moment in time, he belongs in the same group that is populated by the likes of Glenn Close and Peter O’Toole. Plenty of Oscar nominations… but zero wins.

That could change, finally, this year, however, with his musical masterpiece “Maestro,” which explores the marriage between Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein and Carey Mulligan‘s Felicia Montealegre. Both actors deliver powerhouse performances and are expected to pick up nominations for their lead roles, while Cooper could also receive notices for directing, writing, and producing the Netflix film. His best chance at a win, however, could well be for Best Actor, a category that previously looked like “Oppenheimer” star Cillian Murphy might run away with. Now, Cooper is on the rise. And he could be a good bet to win Best Actor for a variety of reasons.

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Firstly, Cooper is portraying a real person, which we know the academy likes in this category. Six out of the last 10 Best Actor winners have won for biopics: Matthew McConaughey for “Dallas Buyers Club” in 2014, Eddie Redmayne for “The Theory of Everything” in 2015, DiCaprio for “The Revenant” in 2016, Gary Oldman for “Darkest Hour” in 2018, Rami Malek for “Bohemian Rhapsody” in 2019, and Will Smith for “King Richard” in 2022. Of course, Murphy and DiCaprio also play real people but they don’t have the transformative aspect that Cooper does.

Cooper is unrecognizable as Bernstein, nailing the unique accent and wielding brilliant makeup and prosthetics to aid and boost his performance. You immediately forget that you’re watching Cooper and instead think it’s Bernstein come to life. Again, transformative roles always do well. Brendan Fraser won earlier this for “The Whale,” Malek won for “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Oldman won for “Darkest Hour,” Redmayne won for “The Theory of Everything,” and, in 2013, Daniel Day-Lewis won for “Lincoln.”

Specifically, however, the use of prosthetics often leads to a Best Actor win. In fact, Best Makeup and Hair and Best Actor is often a winning combination. The following films won both awards: “The Whale,” “Darkest Hour,” and “Dallas Buyers Club” while, in 2021, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” won Best Makeup and Hair and was nominated for Best Actor for Chadwick Boseman. In 2019, “Vice” won Best Makeup and Hair and Christian Bale landed a Best Actor bid. And in 2022, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” won both Best Makeup and Hair and Best Actress (for Jessica Chastain). “Maestro” features prosthetic work by Kazu Hiro, who won Best Makeup and Hair for “Darkest Hour” in 2018 and “Bombshell” in 2020. We expect “Maestro” to be the heavy favorite to take home this Oscar this year, which could lead to the film becoming the latest picture to win for both makeup and hair and lead actor.

Cooper also demonstrates a remarkable commitment to the role. Not only does he direct, co-write, and produce, which is to be admired, but he also perfects the accent, plays musical instruments, dances, and pulls off entire sequences conducting orchestras himself. The scene featuring Bernstein conducting in Ely Cathedral in Cambridge is particularly impressive. We know voters appreciate this kind of effort — Cooper was the beneficiary of this commitment and work when he sang and played instruments in “A Star is Born,” which earned him a Best Actor bid in 2019. Similarly, DiCaprio won for his commitment to the role in “The Revenant” while Jean Dujardin danced his way to the Oscar podium in 2012 for “The Artist.”

Murphy and DiCaprio both deliver stellar performances but Cooper’s is a level above as he had to learn how to conduct, how to dance, how to play the piano, and how to walk and talk like Bernstein all while also directing the entire movie. It’s hugely impressive work from one of the finest filmmakers around.

And, let’s be honest, the academy kind of owes Cooper after nine Oscar nominations and zero wins. Cooper has reaped three Best Actor bids: “Silver Linings Playbook” in 2013, “American Sniper” in 2015, and “A Star is Born” in 2019. He’s also picked up a Best Supporting Actor nomination (for “American Hustle” in 2014) and a Best Adapted Screenplay bid (for “A Star is Born”). Surprisingly, the category he has received the most nominations in is Best Picture — with four so far. His first came in 2015 for “American Sniper” and he was nominated in 2019 for “A Star is Born,” which he also wrote and directed. He contended in 2020 for “Joker” and in 2022 for “Nightmare Alley.” “Joker” is the only one of the four Best Picture bids in which he did not appear.

They may not want to hand him the win for Best Picture or Best Director for “Maestro” as they may want to reward other films and artists in those categories. But Best Actor is the perfect opportunity to finally recognize Cooper. “Killers of the Flower Moon” is Martin Scorsese‘s film before Leonardo DiCaprio‘s while Lily Gladstone is the big talking point there. “Oppenheimer” is Christopher Nolan‘s film before it is Murphy’s, although Murphy’s performance has certainly ignited plenty of passion. But “Maestro” is Cooper’s film through and through and he delivers not just a great directorial work but his best performance as an actor yet.

Currently, Cooper is second in our Best Actor Oscar odds chart with Murphy in first place, DiCaprio in third, Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”) in fourth, and Jeffrey Wright (“American Fiction”) in fifth. He was recently nominated for Best Actor at the Critics Choice Awards and for Best Drama Actor at the Golden Globes, cementing his status as an awards contender to be reckoned with.

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