See Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein in Netflix's first 'Maestro' teaser trailer
A star is born again in Bradley Cooper's director's chair – this time a classical music icon.
On Tuesday, Netflix debuted the first teaser for the musical drama "Maestro," which stars Cooper as famed composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein and Carey Mulligan as his actress wife Felicia Montealegre. Cooper's filmmaking followup to 2018's Oscar-nominated "A Star Is Born" is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival (running Aug. 30 to Sept. 9) and will release in theaters on Nov. 22 before streaming on Netflix Dec. 20.
The first footage from "Maestro," featuring black and white scenes as well as color, showcases the expansive timeframe of the complicated and decades-long love story between Leonard and Felicia. The teaser hints to Leonard's gay romances with men but leans more into the playfulness between the Bernsteins, sitting back to back in the grass and guessing what number the other's thinking about to "build up a very strong connection," Felicia says. In one instance, Leonard says, "It’s two, darling. Like us, a pair. Two little ducks in a pond."
Produced by Cooper, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg and featuring Bernstein's compositions, "Maestro" co-stars Sarah Silverman as Leonard's sister Shirley, Michael Urie as Jerome Robbins (the choreographer who worked with Bernstein on "West Side Story"), and Maya Hawke, Sam Nivola and Alexa Swinton as Leonard and Felicia's children. The cast also includes Matt Bomer, Josh Hamilton, Scott Ellis, Gideon Glick and Miriam Shor.
Spielberg was originally supposed to direct "Maestro" until he saw a cut of "A Star Is Born" and instead hired Cooper, who also co-wrote the film. During an awards-season roundtable with Cate Blanchett earlier this year, Cooper expressed his respect for the classical music field and specifically conductors who take the podium. "It is the most terrifying thing I've ever experienced," he said. "It's the absolute hardest thing you could ever want to do. It is impossible."
Cooper is not traveling to Venice and will skip the world premiere of "Maestro" in solidarity with the SAG-AFTRA strike.
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