Bradley Cooper is a "bit of a control freak".
Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone for Variety's Actors on Actors (Photo by Alexi Lubomirski)
The 48-year-old actor admitted he felt "freedom" in knowing that if anything was wrong about his latest movie 'Maestro' - which he wrote and directed, as well as portraying late musical legend Leonard Bernstein - it was all down to him, even though it was also a "huge burden".
Speaking to Emma Stone for Variety's Actors on Actors series, after the 'Poor Things' star noted it was "scary" to spend so much time preparing for a role, he replied: "I have felt that before in projects, and maybe that’s because … I’ve just recently realised that maybe I’m a bit of a control freak.
"But I knew that if 'Maestro' was going to mess up, it was all on me. I was not beholden to anybody else. There was a freedom in that, as well as a huge burden."
The 'Hangover' star admitted making the movie has completely "changed" him and the experience will always stay with him.
He added: "But that’s why this kind of thing to me feels completely different. I’ll carry it with me the rest of my life. It has changed who I am as an artist."
Bradley felt "completely naked" in the role because he was so "vulnerable".
He said: "Even though I’m not physically naked, I was completely naked putting on this prosthetic and being him and the way he talked. I would direct the movie that way, just because it was easier. But I felt so vulnerable...
"Singing at the Oscars, playing at Glastonbury, didn’t even compare to what that experience was. "
The 'A Star Is Born' actor-and-director has been fascinating by conducting since he was a child and he admitted it meant he already had "years and years" of rehearsal within him.
He said: "I asked Santa Claus for a baton when I was around eight years old, and then I would just conduct all the time because there was classical music playing in my house. I would spend hours and hours.
"I’ve done so much work on believing I’m a conductor that if I ever had the chance to play one, there’s years and years of rehearsal inside of me. And when you believe you are something … That’s all we’re trying to do anyway."
Read the full conversation between Bradley and Emma at https://variety.com/2023/film/features/emma-stone-bradley-cooper-poor-things-maestro-1235821401/.
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