The first photos from Netflix’s upcoming drama “Maestro,” which stars Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan and is based on the life of iconic composer Leonard Bernstein.
Cooper portrays Bernstein, while Mulligan portrays his late conductor’s wife, theatre and television actress Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein. On Monday, the streamer published four photos from the set of “Maestro” on social media, depicting a young Bernstein (Cooper) and his wife Felicia (Mulligan). Cooper also appears as an old Bernstein conducting an orchestra in the stills.
According to Netflix, “Maestro” will follow the life of Leonard Bernstein, who rose to popularity after being assigned to command the New York Philharmonic at the age of 25. When he penned and arranged the music for Steven Spielberg’s iconic picture “West Side Story,” his career took off.
The film depicts Leonard and Felicia’s love journey from their first meeting in 1946 to their 25-year marriage and three children: Jamie Bernstein, Alexander Bernstein, and Nina Bernstein Simmons.
We see the two performers in black and white photographs, including a young Bernstein with his wife at one time. The colourful ones, on the other hand, only show Cooper at a later level than Bernstein. With his grey hair and wrinkles, his characterization is really excellent, and the actor from ‘The Alley of Lost Souls’ is unrecognisable.
Bernstein was a musical theatre legend, best remembered for creating the music for “West Side Story,” the 1957 Broadway show that inspired the 1961 hit film directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise. Steven Spielberg recently directed a film. At the age of 72, he died in 1990.
‘Maestro’ is still a mystery, despite the fact that it is set to be released in 2023. The film will examine “Leonard and Felicia’s complicated love story, which spans more than 30 years, beginning with their first meeting in 1946 at a party and continuing through two engagements, a 25-year marriage, and three children.”
Production on the film began this month, according to Variety. It is, however, a project that has been in the works for quite some time. The first time we heard from him was in 2018, when it was announced that the ‘Silver Side of Things’ actor would star in and direct a biopic about Leonard Bernstein. It was revealed over two years later that the streaming behemoth was going into production. Cooper has been securing the rights from the Bernstein Estate and working closely with the composer’s three sons during the pre-production period.