Bradley Cooper Reads Scripts Alfresco

Bradley Cooper was invested in Maestro — audibly. In addition to acting in and directing his latest film, about Leonard Bernstein’s life and work, he also co-wrote the movie with Oscar-winning screenwriter Josh Singer. As part of Cooper’s artistic process, he sat down with his writing partner for story time. “One thing that Bradley likes to do, which I had never done before, is read the script out loud,” Singer told Vulture at Maestro’s New York Film Festival premiere on October 2. “It would be just the two of us sitting and reading the whole script back and forth to each other, and you’re gonna hear certain things in these moments that you don’t hear as well sitting at your computer.” Even Carey Mulligan, who plays Bernstein’s wife, Felicia, joined the co-writers for one such session. “The first time Carey joined us, we did a meeting on Bradley’s roof-deck in L.A., just me, Carey, and Bradley,” Singer remembered. “I could already hear the chemistry.” Did Cooper act out each character during these draft read-throughs? “No, he didn’t use the voice … it’s more just reading it. I would joke like, ‘Okay, you read Lenny. I’ll read Felicia.’”

Singer also acknowledged the end of the writers strike, a historic deal for his peers that allowed him to attend the carpet in the first place. “It’s very odd to be standing here,” he reflected. “I’m normally used to being in a little bit of a writer’s cave, but I’ve really been in it, especially in the last six months. I’m incredibly grateful to David Goodman and Chris Keyser for leading this brave fight and creating these protections that I think will serve writers for a very long time. I’m also grateful to be able to be here and talk about this labor of love.”