Bradley Cooper will direct, star in Netflix film about Leonard Bernstein

Image by Santi Visalli/Getty Images

By Marcy Oster January 23, 2020

(JTA) — Bradley Cooper will direct, produce and star in a Netflix film about the late Jewish composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein.

The untitled film is expected to begin production early next year and will be released in theaters before the film premieres on Netflix, Deadline first reported.

The movie will span more than 30 years, telling the story of the complicated relationship between Bernstein, of “West Side Story” fame, and his wife, Felicia Montealegre. Bernstein, who died in 1990 at 72, reportedly had affairs with men before and during his marriage.

The script was co-written by Cooper with Josh Singer, who wrote the Academy Award-winning film “Spotlight.”

Among the many co-producers are Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. The project initially started at Paramount, which will no longer be involved, according to reports.

Cooper, who also directed and starred in the successful “A Star Is Born,” has been working closely with Bernstein’s three children for the past two years, according to Deadline.

The actor has always been fascinated with conducting, Deadline wrote, but the “charged and complex relationship” between Bernstein and his wife is what led him to make the film.

The post Bradley Cooper will direct and star in Netflix film about Leonard Bernstein appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO