Bradley Cooper’s Prosthetic Nose Was Partially To Give Him a “Nasal Voice,” Says ‘Maestro’ Makeup Artist

Bradley Cooper’s large prosthetic nose in Maestro—a drama about the life of celebrated Jewish composer Leonard Bernstein—has been the subject of much debate and controversy.

But, according to Maestro makeup designer Kazu Hiro—who spoke at a press conference following a screening of the film at the 2023 New York Film Festival on Tuesday—Cooper wanted a prosthetic nose not just because he wanted to look more like Berenstein, but also because he wanted to sound like him, too.

“We made a nose plug because [Cooper] wanted to sound like Lenny,” Hiro said, while speaking on the press conference panel. “He asked, ‘Can you make a nose plug to change my voice?’ And so I made a nose plug with different size holes, to give him a nasal voice.”

Hiro, who worked closely with Cooper on creating prosthetics for the actor to play Bernstein at many different stages of his life, explained that the nose plug went inside Cooper’s nostrils, and a large prosthetic nose was built around it. That said, Hiro clarified the nose was also intended to make Cooper resemble Bernstein visually.

“Lenny’s nose was wider than Bradley’s, so I made it wider at the same time,” Hiro said. “It changed his nose shape and his voice. I made it in several different stages, because as he gets older, his voice changed. But he figured out how to change his voice with just using one type of nose plug. That goes in, and then you make the nose, face, lips, and everything.” The entire prosthetic process took about five hours, Hiro said.

When the first trailer for Maestro debuted, Cooper—who is not Jewish—received blowback from critics who felt the portrayal played into antisemitic stereotypes. At a previous press conference at the Venice Film Festival, Miro apologized for the prosthetic nose, saying, “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. Lenny had a really iconic look that everybody knows.”

In a statement posted to X (the platform formerly known as Twitter), Bernstein’s three children, who were involved in the Maestro production, wrote, “Bradley chose to use makeup to amplify his resemblance, and we’re perfectly fine with that. We’re also certain that our dad would have been fine with it as well.”