Oscar winning makeup artist who created Bradley Cooper’s controversial ‘Jewface’ nose for Maestro apologises for causing any ‘hurt’
Oscar-winning makeup artist who created Bradley Cooper’s controversial ‘Jewface’ nose for Maestro apologizes for causing ‘hurt’
The makeup artist who created Bradley Cooper’s controversial “Jewface” nose for the film Maestro about composer Leonard Bernstein apologized Friday for causing “hurt.”
Two-time Oscar winner Kazu Hiro, who previously transformed Gary Oldman into Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour, said of the storm, “I didn’t expect this to happen. I’m sorry I hurt some people’s feelings.”
He added: ‘My goal, and Bradley’s, was to portray Lenny as authentically as possible. Lenny had a truly iconic look that everyone knows – there are so many photos because he’s also photogenic – such a great person and inspired so many people.
“So we wanted to respect the look on the inside as well. That’s why we did several tests and made many decisions, and that was the result in the film.’
The film premieres tonight in Venice and the composer’s three children were in town to promote the film.
Sorry: The makeup artist who created Bradley Cooper’s controversial ‘Jewface’ nose for the film Maestro about composer Leonard Bernstein apologized yesterday for causing ‘hurt’
Speaking up: Two-time Oscar winner Kazu Hiro said of the storm, “I didn’t expect this to happen. I’m sorry I hurt some people’s feelings’
Intention: ‘My goal, and Bradley’s, was to portray Lenny as authentically as possible. Lenny had a really iconic look that everyone knows,” he added
Actor, director, writer and producer Cooper can’t come because this is a Netflix production and promoting it would violate the actors and writers’ strikes.
After a trailer and publicity stills were released, the nose drew heavy criticism from a number of leading members of the Jewish community, who accused Cooper of resorting to “Jewface” in his portrayal.
Bernstein’s eldest daughter Jamie defended the decisions to Vanity Fair, saying: “It’s just such an annoying distraction. The people who were waiting to get angry about something were just waiting to strike.”
She added, “It just left us gasping for what they could achieve. He (Hiro) sent us pictures on his phone, and some of them were so striking that we thought, oh come on, he just smuggled in a picture of our dad.”
Jamie added of Cooper’s performance: “His energy was so like our father’s, and his way of being in the world and interacting with people reminded us more and more of our father, and we started to see how good he was up for the part in ways we wouldn’t have even thought of in the first place.’
Jamie plus siblings Alexander and Nina previously released a statement that read: ‘Bradley Cooper has taken the three of us through every step of his amazing journey as he made his film about our dad.
“We were touched to the core as we witnessed the depth of his devotion, his loving embrace of our father’s music, and the candid joy he brought as he explored. It breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentations or misunderstandings about his efforts. It’s true that Leonard Bernstein had a nice big nose. Bradley has chosen to use make-up to enhance his likeness, and that’s fine with us.”
Scenes took up to five hours in the makeup chair for Bernstein when he was older, and about two hours and 50 minutes when he was younger.
Controversy: After a trailer and photos were released, the nose drew criticism from the Jewish community, who accused Cooper of resorting to “Jewface” (pictured left: Leonard Bernstein)