Bradley Cooper laments lack of public awareness of Leonard Bernstein

Bradley Cooper hopes his film “Maestro” will increase awareness about Leonard Bernstein

NEW YORK -- Gushing after the New York Philharmonic performed Leonard Bernstein’s music, Bradley Cooper talked about creating the film “Maestro ″ in hopes of drawing more attention to the composer and conductor.

“Many people don’t know who he is,” the actor and director told the sold-out crowd of about 1,800 at Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall on Wednesday night. “If you go to a coffee shop in New York City, let alone any other state in America, people have heard of 'West Side Story’ but not Leonard Bernstein.”

Yannick Nézet-Séguin made his New York Philharmonic debut conducting works from the movie over an hour mixed with video and audio clips, then had an onstage conversation with Cooper, who portrayed Bernstein. They were joined by Carey Mulligan, who played Felicia Montealegre, the actor and wife of Bernstein.

In an interview with The Associated Press before the concert, Cooper recalled how he got into character during the 55-day shoot in 2022, when he had time for only a brief nap at the end of each day. Bernstein's voice was the key.

“When I would be in the makeup chair before crew call, when I put that wardrobe on," he said, "I had to make that leap of faith to stop talking like this and start talking and breathing like him, with a deviated septum and asthmatic and all the things that he had to deal with.”