Bradley Cooper pictured at Met Gala. (Image courtesy: AFP)
Los Angeles:
The household of Leonard Bernstein has defended Bradley Cooper’s controversial determination to put on a big prosthetic nostril whereas enjoying the Jewish composer in a brand new movie. Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper – who wrote, directed and stars in Maestro – has acquired criticism since a trailer for the upcoming Netflix movie was launched on-line this week. Critics stated the choice to put on a faux nostril performs as much as Jewish stereotypes, and have dubbed it “Jewface,” in reference to the historic “Blackface” follow of non-Black performers darkening their faces for roles.
Others have questioned whether or not non-Jewish actors, like Cooper, ought to even play Jewish roles.
But the late Bernstein’s three kids stated they had been “perfectly fine with” with Cooper’s determination “to use makeup to amplify his resemblance” to their father.
“It happens to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a nice, big nose,” wrote Jamie, Alexander and Nina Bernstein in a press release on social media.
“We’re also certain that our dad would have been fine with it as well,” they added.
Leonard Bernstein, the son of Jewish-Ukrainian immigrants, died in 1990 however stays one of many best-known composers and conductors of all time.
He served as music director of the New York Philharmonic, and wrote the Broadway musical West Side Story.
Cooper, a nine-time Oscar nominee, is finest identified for A Star Is Born and The Hangover movies.
Maestro is a biographical romance about Bernstein and his spouse Felicia Montealegre, who’s performed by Carey Mulligan.
Questions about whether or not actors, significantly white performers, ought to play real-life figures from ethnic minorities have lengthy roiled Hollywood.
In latest years, the casting of non-Jewish actors to play Jewish roles has come to the fore.
For occasion, Helen Mirren drew controversy for portraying former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir on this yr’s Golda. But the Bernstein household praised Cooper for “the depth of his commitment” to the venture.
“It breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentations or misunderstandings of his efforts,” they wrote.
“Any strident complaints around this issue strike us above all as disingenuous attempts to bring a successful person down a notch – a practice we observed all too often perpetrated on our own father.”
Maestro is because of premiere at subsequent month’s Venice Film Festival.
Cooper has already stated he is not going to attend the premiere due to the continued Hollywood strike, which prevents actors from selling their films.
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Source: www.ndtv.com