Actor Bradley Cooper recently lost out on the Golden Globes Cillian Murphy’s performance in Oppenheimer. Cooper’s performance in Maestro, a biopic on legendary music composer Leonard Bernstein was the actor’s ninth nomination at the Golden Globes. However, luck does not seem to be on the side of The Hangover star as he lost both Best Actor and Best Director to Christopher Nolan’s Robert Oppenheimer biopic.
Cooper reportedly transformed physically to look more like Bernstein, with the prosthetic nose receiving severe backlash. However, what made the loss more depressing was the dedication Cooper put into playing the role. He reportedly trained for six years as a conductor to perform in a six-minute scene in the film.
Bradley Cooper Trained For Six Years For One Scene in Maestro
Bradley Cooper made his directorial debut with the musical A Star Is Born, which gained many accolades, including the Best Original Song Oscar for Lady Gaga’s Shallow. He was attached to the Leonard Bernstein biopic when it was supposed to be directed by Martin Scorsese in 2018. However, Scorsese soon left the project and Bradley Cooper took over.
Apart from directing, Cooper also chose to star as Bernstein and reportedly had to undergo a physical transformation to look more like the legendary composer. He sought the help of Oscar-winning makeup artist Kazu Hiro after he was recommended by Guillermo Del Toro, to help get the look of Bernstein right. The prosthetic nose received severe backlash for Cooper as he was accused of putting on a ‘Jewface’.
Bradley Cooper’s toughest preparation for the role, however, occurred for the scene that portrayed the composer’s legendary concert at Ely Cathedral with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1976. Cooper revealed to IndieWire that he trained for six years for that scene alone, which had six minutes of runtime. He said,
“That scene I was so worried about because we did it live. That was the London Symphony Orchestra. I was recorded live, I had to conduct them. And I spent six years learning how to conduct six minutes and 21 seconds of music…I think that I knew, I was terrified, absolutely terrified that if I hadn’t done the work that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself in these scenes. And everybody did.”
The actor-director credited Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin for helping him with the scene and training him well for the years.
Bradley Cooper’s Harrowing Defeat To Cillian Murphy
Bradley Cooper’s polarizing film Meastro still had a healthy count at the beginning of the Awards season, with four nominations at the Golden Globes. The film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress for a drama. However, the film went home empty-handed as Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer swept the awards with five wins.
Cooper lost the Best Director Award to Christopher Nolan, losing the award yet again after being nominated for A Star is Born. However, a truly saddening sight was witnessed when Bradley Cooper’s stoic face was displayed as he lost the Best Actor Award to Cillian Murphy. Murphy played the titular role in Oppenheimer.
Fans were quick to feel sorry for Bradley Cooper, who spent six years perfecting his skills as a conductor for a short six-minute sequence in the two-hour film. Though the world was in agreement with Murphy’s win and hoped that he would win at the Oscars too, fans still felt bad for Cooper.
you can actually see the flashback montage of 6 years of training to wave a stick around go to waste here as he looks at cillian murphy pic.twitter.com/pbWYCWxLxD
— اقراﺀ (@ghoulhag) January 8, 2024
Oh god it's sadder when you zoom in pic.twitter.com/8YGe8TBQP9
— Priyant 👨🏾🚀 (@Priyant1987) January 8, 2024
his original villain arc was started since rami malek won for bohemian rhapsody and now this
— Ultra Messi (Fan) (@SuperMessi10i) January 8, 2024
i feel bad for bradley cooper bc it does feel like his career from now on is all going to hinge on how he should’ve just won for a star is born in 2019 like then he would have inner peace 😭
— RK10 (@Maxrex1817) January 8, 2024
His best acting performance was actually right here trying to stay cool
— speedy117 (@sp33dy117) January 8, 2024
While this year’s Golden Globe wunderkind seems to be Christopher Nolan, he too had to wait years to get his first taste of the award. So, all may not be lost for Bradley Cooper, who might still get the chance in the future.
