‘Maestro’ Make-up Designer Addresses Prosthetic Nostril Backlash in Venice

The make-up artist for Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro responded Saturday on the Venice Movie Pageant to the latest backlash over the movie’s prosthetic nostril.

Cooper was absent in Venice as a result of he’s chosen to help the SAG-AFTRA strike by not strolling the crimson carpet for his movie, which he wrote, directs and stars in. However a big contingent of crew members — in addition to Leonard Berstein’s daughter, Jamie Bernstein — had been available on the competition to debate Maestro and its creation. It didn’t take lengthy on the press convention earlier than make-up artist Kazu Hiro was requested in regards to the backlash that has engulfed the movie on social media in latest weeks. The Maestro crew got here beneath criticism in some quarters for Cooper’s determination to put on a prosthetic nostril for his portrayal of the enduring Jewish composer, which some claimed was unnecessarily partaking in anti-Semitic stereotypes.

“I wasn’t anticipating it to occur; I really feel sorry if I damage some folks’s emotions,” Hiro mentioned. “My purpose was —and Bradley’s purpose was — to painting Lenny as genuine[ally] as potential. Lenny had a very iconic look that everyone is aware of. There are such a lot of photos on the market as a result of he’s photogenic, too — such an awesome individual and likewise impressed so many individuals. So, we wished to respect the look, too, on the within. In order that’s why we did a number of completely different checks and went by way of a number of selections and that was the result within the film. That was our [actual] intention.”

Esteemed within the business, Hiro has twice gained the Oscar for finest make-up and hairstyling, for the biographical movies Darkest Hour (2017) and Bombshell (2019), after incomes earlier nominations for the comedies Click on (2006) and Norbit (2007). He additionally enthused through the press convention about Cooper’s devotion to the movie, saying that the actor-director usually arrived on set at 2 a.m. to start the make-up course of, which took about 2 hours and 50 minutes for the younger years of Bernstein, and so long as 5 hours for the character when he was in his older years.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has defended Cooper’s determination to put on the prosthetic nostril, as has Berstein’s household, who put out a press release of response that learn: “It breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentations or misunderstandings of Bradley’s efforts. It occurs to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a pleasant, huge nostril. Bradley selected to make use of make-up to amplify his resemblance, and we’re completely superb with that.” 

Jamie Bernstein spoke up on the press convention to say how “honored” she and her siblings had been to collaborate intently with Cooper on the movie.

Maestro makes its world premiere in Venice Saturday night time and can launch worldwide on Netflix on Dec. 20.