'Maestro' Producer On Controversy Over Casting Carey Mulligan: She Got The Approval Of The Family

'Maestro' producer Kristie Macosko Krieger responds to the backlash over casting Carey Mulligan for the role of Felicia Montealegre, a Costa Rican actress. She also said how Leonard Bernstein's daughters praised Carey's performance.

Outlook Entertainment Desk

Updated on: 21 December 2023 1:56 pm

Bradley Cooper’s upcoming movie, Maestro

The 2023 autobiographical film, ‘Maestro’ which revolves around the relationship between American music composer Leonard Bernstein and his wife Felicia Montealegre had found itself deep in controversies even before its release. Responding to one of these controversies, the movie’s producer Kristie Macosko Krieger has broken her silence on the chatter around casting Carey Mulligan for the role of Felicia who was a Costa Rican actress.

In an exclusive conversation with GamesRadar+, Kristie Macosko Krieger said Bernstein’s family had approved the casting of Mulligan for the role. Since the family was fine with it, they knew they were “doing it right.” Krieger also mentioned that it was originally Bradley Cooper’s idea to cast Mulligan for the role. She said, “I think she’s a national treasure and whilst she’s always been great, this material allowed her to go deeper, to give a beautifully nuanced performance. She knew how to be the rock at the center of the movie – in some ways she’s actually the maestro.”

It has been reported that Leonard Bernstein’s daughters have praised Mulligan’s performance in ‘Maestro.’ Nina said, “She’s incredible – especially as she didn’t have much material to study, just some YouTube clips of her TV work and our home movies. I don’t know how she managed to capture our mom’s fragility, strength, and vulnerability – all of those layers.” Echoing the same sentiment, Nina’s sister Jamie also had good things to say about her mother’s portrayal on screen. She mentioned how if her mother were alive, she would have loved the performance.

Earlier, people had criticized the use of prosthetics on Bradley Cooper in the film. People noted how the use of a prosthetic nose is problematic for the depiction of the Jewish music composer. ‘Maestro’ has been produced by Martin Martin Scorsese, Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg, Fred Berner, Amy Durning, and Kristie Macosko Krieger. The movie is streaming on Netflix.