Bradley Cooper ‘stole’ Leonard Bernstein role from half-Jewish Jake Gyllenhaal, with star slammed for donning prosthetic nose for part
- Cooper and Gyllenhaal went head to head in 2018 for the musical rights
- Paramount ultimately won the bid, with Cooper portraying the iconic composer
- Maestro is set to arrive in theaters and on Netflix on 20 December 2023
Bradley Cooper is being accused of ‘stealing’ a role from half-Jewish actor Jake Gyllenhaal – as he s slammed for wearing a prosthetic nose in his depiction of Leonard Bernstein.
Cooper, 48, has been accused of being anti-semitic by critics who feel he took the role from Gyllenhaal, 42, as well as being accused of ‘Jewface’.
The Philadelphia native plays the role of the legendary musical conductor in the film opposite Carey Mulligan, who portrays his wife Felicia Montealegre, with the movie examining their relationship.
Many have been quick to question why Gyllenhaal, whose mother is Jewish, was not cast despite previously showing interest.
The two top Hollywood A-Listers faced off in a pitch to the music maestros estate in 2018, with Cooper teaming up with Paramount and announcing the film on May 10 of that year.
Cooper, 48, has been accused of being anti-semitic by critics who feel he took the role from Gyllenhaal, 42, as well as being accused of ‘Jewface’
New York City-based group Stop Antisemites tweeted a picture of Bernstein, before launching an attack on Cooper
Gyllenhaal announced his project first, on May 1, confirming that he would be working with director Cary Fukunaga, with Bron Studios, before the pair scrambled to get permission for the musical rights.
Ultimately Cooper came out on top, with Hollywood heavyweights Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese being given the rights alongside Paramount.
Gyllenhaal’s movie – The American – was not given permission to feature any music that Bernstein composed, including West Side Story, causing the project to come screeching to a halt.
Since the first trailer for Maestro dropped, Cooper has been slammed for wearing a prosthetic nose, and being accused of being anti-semitic.
New York City-based group Stop Antisemites tweeted a picture of Bernstein, before launching an attack on Cooper.
They tweeted: ‘Hollywood cast Bradley Cooper – a non-Jew – to play Jewish legend Leonard Bernstein and stuck a disgusting exaggerated ‘Jew nose’ on him.
‘All while saying no to Jake Gyllenhaal, an actually Jewish man, who has dreamt of playing Bernstein for decades. Sickening.’
Maestro was tabbed as one of this year’s most anticipated releases and marks Cooper’s first project as director since his Oscar-nominated movie A Star is Born.
Many have been quick to question why Gyllenhaal, whose mother is Jewish, was not cast despite previously showing interest
Bradley Cooper (left) is seen on the left in a trailer for the biopic movie about Leonard Bernstein (right)
Others have been quick to come out in defense of Cooper, who featured on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2020, announcing the film
Bradley Cooper’s prosthetic nose in the trailer for Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro has sparked online chatter, with some calling out the actor/director, 48, for playing to ‘Jewface’ stereotypes with the exaggerated facial feature
Others have been quick to come out in defense of Cooper, who featured on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2020, announcing the film.
Reposting the clip, they said: ‘Here’s Bradley Cooper in January 2022 mentioning how STEVEN SPIELBERG had the rights of Maestro and offered him first to play Leonard Bernstein and then telling him to direct the film.
‘So stop saying Bradley Cooper stole anything from Jake Gyllenhaal. Spielberg chose him.’
Another said that, despite the prosthetic, they felt that Cooper was the better actor for the role for the two.
They said: ‘I love Jake Gyllenhaal with all my heart and loins, and yes he is actually Jewish, but Bradley Cooper is a better actor and filmmaker.
‘Idk where his team was when he was putting on them prosthetics, but I simply can’t see Jake doing a better job.’
However some then doubled down on their accusations, calling the use of the prosthetic ‘completely unnecessary’.
Another added that ‘there was no need for Bradley Cooper to add an odd prosthetic nose on top of this to play Leonard Bernstein,’ as ‘his own nose is longer!’
Bradley Cooper is seen with a prosthetic nose as Leonard Bernstein on the set of ‘Maestro’ filming in New York City
Cooper plays the role of the legendary musical conductor in the film opposite Carey Mulligan, who portrays his wife Felicia Montealegre, with the movie examining their relationship
Some users said that Bernstein should have been played by a Jewish actor instead of Cooper, who is not Jewish
Cooper was spotted with the prosthetic nose while filming scenes for the movie in New York City in July 2022
On social media, many users sounded off on the size of the prosthetic, with some using photo to show that Bernstein’s nose was not close to that size
One user noted that the Academy Award-nominated star, who is not Jewish, should not have even been in the casting discussion with ‘so many great Jewish actors out there.’
A third said that Cooper’s appearance was both offensive and unnecessary to the actual storytelling process in the film.
‘Bradley Cooper wearing a prosthetic nose to play Leonard Bernstein is the equivalent of Black face,’ the user said. ‘He should be able to portray the character through the magnificence of his own acting.
‘Particularly if Cooper has been hired over a Jewish actor. There has to be a line.’
The concept of ‘Jewface’ has been debated across Hollywood, with some people critical of Felicity Jones, who is not Jewish, playing late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the 2018 film On the Basis of Sex.
Another controversy come in the fall of 2021 when Kathryn Hahn, who is not Jewish, was cast to play late comic and talk show host Joan Rivers in a limited series titled The Comeback Girl. (The project did not move forward due to licensing rights.)
One of the biggest critics of Hahn’s casting was Sarah Silverman – who, in an ironic twist, plays the role of Shirley Bernstein in Maestro alongside Cooper.
A controversy come in the fall of 2021 when Kathryn Hahn, who is not Jewish, was cast to play late comic and talk show host Joan Rivers in a limited series titled The Comeback Girl
One of the biggest critics of Hahn’s casting was Sarah Silverman – who, in an ironic twist, plays the role of Shirley Bernstein in Maestro alongside Cooper
On The Sarah Silverman Podcast in October of 2021, Silverman said that ‘there’s this long tradition of non-Jews playing Jews, and not just playing people who happen to be Jewish but people whose Jewishness is their whole being.’
Silverman said that ‘one could argue, for instance’ that a non Jewish actress ‘playing Joan Rivers correctly would be doing what is actually called ‘Jewface.”
Silverman on the podcast said that ‘Jewface’ is ‘defined as when a non-Jew portrays a Jew with the Jewishness front and center, often with makeup or changing of features, big fake nose, all the New York-y or Yiddish-y inflection’
She asked, ‘In a time when the importance of representation is seen as so essential and so front and center, why does ours constantly get breached even today in the thick of it?’
Maestro is set to arrive in theaters and on Netflix December 20.
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