‘REALLY ICONIC LOOK‘

‘Maestro’ Makeup Artist Apologizes for Bradley Cooper’s Prosthetic Nose

“I wasn’t expecting it to happen. I feel sorry if I hurt some people’s feelings. My goal was and Bradley’s goal was to portray Lenny as authentically as possible,” Kazu Hiro said.

The makeup artist behind Bradley Cooper’s new biopic Maestro apologized Saturday for the film’s use of a prosthetic nose, which prompted backlash after critics argued it played into antisemitic stereotypes. “I wasn’t expecting it to happen. I feel sorry if I hurt some people’s feelings. My goal was and Bradley’s goal was to portray Lenny as authentically as possible,” Kazu Hiro said at the Venice Film Festival, referring to Leonard Bernstein, the Jewish composer the movie is based on. “Lenny had a really iconic look that everybody knows.” Hiro explained that Maestro’s team wanted to “respect the look, including what’s going on inside” and “went through lots of decisions” before settling on the prosthetic. “That was our only intention,” he added. Following the criticism, Bernstein’s three children defended director and lead actor Cooper, who they said included “us along every step of his amazing journey as he made his film about our father.” “It happens to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a big, nice nose. Bradley chose to use makeup to amplify his resemblance, and we’re perfectly fine with that,” they wrote in a statement.