“Well, I can guarantee you right now that Leonard Bernstein is here with us, giving you a big kiss on the mouth, and saying, ‘Thank you for what you did for me; what you did for Felicia [Montealegre, Bernstein’s wife]; what you did for Alexander, Nina and Jamie [their children]; and for everybody who loves the classical influence on all modern music, traced all the way back through Bernstein to Mahler and everybody before that,'” Steven Spielberg told Bradley Cooper on Saturday night at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood following an Imax screening of Maestro, which Cooper co-wrote, directed and stars in as the late, great composer. “This was a mitzvah. Thank you for this.”
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Spielberg, a producer of Maestro — who, like Martin Scorsese, once intended to direct it, but ultimately handed it off to Cooper after being blown away by Cooper’s 2018 directorial debut A Star Is Born — moderated a half-hour conversation with Cooper. After taking the stage to a lengthy standing ovation, the two discussed Cooper’s childhood desire to be a conductor; Cooper’s decision to make a film that is “an anatomy of a marriage” rather than a traditional biopic of the sort that Spielberg said he probably would have made; the challenge of directing oneself and others while remaining in character, as Cooper was throughout the shoot; the performance of Carey Mulligan; and more.
You can watch the entire conversation below.
Spielberg closed by telling Cooper: “I feel real good about myself that I hired you, and I’m so proud of you.”
