Weekly Kibbitz
Netfl ix via JTA
Netfl ix Releases Photos of Bradley Cooper Wearing
Prosthetic Nose to Portray Leonard Bernstein
As Netfl ix released the fi rst stills
from the set of “Maestro,” Bradley
Cooper’s upcoming biopic fi lm about
Leonard Bernstein, there was one
thing most fans could agree about.

Cooper looked utterly unrecogniz-
able, especially in one image as an
elderly version of the iconic Jewish
conductor. But as legions of angry social media
users pointed out, part of Cooper’s
transformation involved a prosthetic
nose, something that many found
to be antisemitic — especially since
Cooper is not Jewish.

“There’s no reason to believe that
the decision to wear a fake nose
is a deliberately antisemitic act,”
wrote James Hirsh, a co-host of
the Menschwarmers podcast about
Jewish athletes, in the Canadian
Jewish News. “Cooper is presum-
ably interested in exploring the life of
a great composer whom he admires.

A number of Jews are involved in the
production. And the prosthesis argu-
ably helps with the resemblance.

“But this is Cooper’s third time por-
traying a historical fi gure on screen,”
Hirsh added. “No prosthetics were
used to play ‘American Sniper’s
Chris Kyle or ‘Licorice Pizza’s Jon
Peters. He didn’t use them to play
the Elephant Man on Broadway.”
Hirsh was far from alone in calling
out the prosthetic.

Even though actors frequently
adapt their bodies while playing his-
torical fi gures, conversations about
how many non-Jews play Jewish
characters in Hollywood — and on
what scale that should be allowed —
have circulated for years.

But the “Jewface” debate received
a boost last year, especially after
non-Jewish actress Kathryn Hahn
was cast as the outspokenly Jewish
comedy pioneer Joan Rivers (in a
series that was eventually dropped).

Comedian Sarah Silverman made
headlines by berating the casting,
saying “Right now, representation
f***ing matters” on an episode of her
podcast. The Bernstein biopic discourse
has been particularly charged since
2018, when Cooper and Steven
Spielberg — who was fi rst slated to
direct “Maestro,” before it became
Cooper’s directorial follow-up to his
2018 hit remake of “A Star Is Born” —
beat out the actor-director team of
Jake Gyllenhaal and Cary Fukunaga
in securing the music rights from
Bernstein’s estate.

In talking about the Bernstein
sweepstakes in an interview last
year, Gyllenhaal — who like Spielberg
is Jewish — mentioned Bernstein’s
Jewishness in admitting defeat.

“Sticking your neck out, hoping to
get to tell the stories you love and
Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein
on the set of “Maestro”
that have been in your heart for a
very long time is something to be
proud of. And that story, that idea of
playing one of the most preeminent
Jewish artists in America and his
struggle with his identity was in my
heart for 20 some odd years, but
sometimes those things don’t work
out,” he told Deadline.

Some fans resurfaced the pos-
sibility of a Bernstein played by
Gyllenhaal in their swipes at the
on-set images of Cooper.

Production on
“Maestro,” which co-stars Carey Mulligan as
Bernstein’s wife Felicia Montealegre,
started last month. The fi lm will likely
be released in 2023.

— Gabe Friedman
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