When Bradley Cooper’s movie Maestro was released last year, it immediately became clear that it had been a bit of a passion project for the star.
In case you didn’t know, the film is about iconic composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein’s life and career, with Cooper taking on the lead role while also directing the biopic.
As he promoted Maestro, Cooper revealed that he had spent six years preparing for the role — namely learning how to conduct just over six minutes of music in the style of Bernstein.
This was for one of the most crucial scenes in the film, which Cooper was determined to perform live on set despite being “absolutely terrified” of not being able to do the conductor justice.
But Cooper’s efforts undeniably paid off, and the star was widely praised by Bernstein’s children, who admitted to being left completely awestruck when they first saw the Hollywood actor as their father.
“It took our breath away, it made us gasp,” Jamie Bernstein previously told Variety. "We literally opened our doors to Bradley and his team."
And the relationship that Jamie and her siblings forged with Cooper during Maestro’s production has proved to be long lasting.
In fact, back in November, Cooper revealed that he would be spending Thanksgiving with the Bernstein children, explaining on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, “We are going to go to Jersey and then we're going to go to Fairfield, Connecticut, to spend it with the Bernsteins.”
The following month, Cooper sat down with Jamie, Nina, and Alexander Bernstein for an interview with CBS that highlighted just how integrated he had become with the family.
And a clip from this interview recently resurfaced online due to Cooper’s “unhinged” comments about the siblings’ father, who died in 1990.
Despite never having met Bernstein before playing him in Maestro, Cooper became incredibly emotional and even broke down in tears as he reflected on how much he misses him.
During the interview, Nina referred to her father as she asked the actor, “Do you miss him?” to which he replied, “Oh yeah, man.”
“It’s hard to talk about,” Cooper explained, noticeably fighting back tears. “I don’t know — we, the four of us, shared something very special; it’s hard to even articulate.”
Cooper then started to cry as he added, “He was with me, certainly, throughout the entire time. His energy has somehow found its way to me, and I really do feel like I know him.”
Suffice to say, people have been left with “secondhand embarrassment” after watching Cooper’s emotional display — especially in the presence of Bernstein’s bereaved children.
Reacting to the clip on a Reddit forum, one person wrote, “I hate to use the word but this is so fucking cringy. Like please have some self-awareness I’m begging you.”
Both Cooper’s acting and directing efforts in Maestro have been recognized throughout awards season this year, with the star racking up nominations in both categories but so far failing to take home a prize.
