For Maestro, Bradley Cooper has listed some “non-negotiable requirements” to come on board to star and direct the noted conductor Leonard Bernstein’s biopic on Netflix.
Spilling the beans on the Oscar-nominated actor’s demands, one of the producers of the film, Kristie Macosko, told Newsweek that the 48, has set the benchmark high for the production.
“Bradley did not make it easy for us,” the producer revealed with a cheeky grin. “He desired to film the film in the sacred corridors where Lenny and Felicia once lived.”
She continued, “So he wanted to shoot a tango; he wanted to shoot at Carnegie Hall; he wanted to shoot in Ely Cathedral; he wanted to shoot at The Plaza; he wanted to shoot in Central Park.”
“We had to build the Dakota to look exactly like their apartment because he wanted to shoot there, but we could not shoot there.”
Coming back on Bradley’s “non-negotiable” requirements, Kristie revealed, “And so making [Maestro] in the real spaces, he wanted to shoot live music, he wanted to shoot on film. All of these were things he would not compromise on.”
She said, “And he wanted to film it over a period of fifty years using prosthetic makeup. It was therefore like the triple Salchow to accomplish all of those things. Making the movie was not simple.”
However, Kristie acknowledged Bradley’s efforts, saying, “It was the right way to make the film. And he knew that that was exactly what we should do. And that was the way to tell the story of their lives.”
