For the past year, if not longer,Carey Mulliganhas been rumored to be playing the female lead inBradley Cooper’sLeonard BernsteinbiopicMaestro, and nowDeadlinereports that her casting has been made official – which is both exciting and a tiny bit discouraging.
See, Mulligan will be playing the legendary composer’s wife,Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein, who was born in Costa Rica and grew up in Chile. Her mother was Costa Rican, and her father was American, as well as Jewish. Mulligan certainlylookslike Felicia, but she’s English, so I’m not sure I’m buying her as half-Costa Rican, or even half-Jewish, to be honest. But hey, the Bernstein children seem happy, so who am I to rain on their parade?
“We’re absolutely thrilled that Carey Mulligan will play our mother inMaestro. Carey will surely capture Felicia’s unique combination of wit, warmth, elegant beauty, and depth of emotion. We also love the way Carey conveys a kind of storybook European grace, which was something our mother embodied as well,“Jamie Bernsteintold Deadline on behalf of her siblings,Alexander BernsteinandNina Bernstein Simmons.
Maestrowill chronicle the complex love story between the Bernsteins, who met at a party in 1946 and were married for 25 years. Netflix is backing the film which Cooper will direct from a script he co-wrote with Oscar winnerJosh Singer(Spotlight), and the two of them worked in close consultation with the Bernstein family for the past several years. Production is slated to start in the spring.
“I was struck by Carey ever since I saw her on stage many years ago and I haven’t missed a performance of hers since. I am humbled to be working with such a mammoth talent, as well as such a kind person in Carey,” Cooper told Deadline.
Leaving aside the tricky racial politics of this casting news, Mulligan is a fantastic, Oscar-nominated actress, and Cooper has nabbed her at the perfect time, as she’ll be coming off a dynamite turn inEmerald Fennell’s revenge thrillerPromising Young Woman, which earned raves at Sundance. Mulligan recently starred inPaul Dano’sWildlife, and she’ll soon be seen oppositeRalph Fiennesin another Netflix movie,The Dig. Mulligan broke out inAn Educationbefore going on to co-star oppositeRyan GoslingandLeonardo DiCaprioinDriveandThe Great Gatsby, respectively.
Cooper is currently filmingPaul Thomas Anderson’s untitled new movie, and you canclick hereto find out who’s playing the young lead in that period film.
