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Bugs Bunny was Bradley Cooper's inspiration for ''Maestro''
Chuck Jones would be proud!
In the 2023 film Maestro, Bradley Cooper delivered a stunning, Academy Award-nominated performance as legendary conductor Leonard Bernstein. To play a famous conductor, Cooper spent six years training for the role with top conductors, including Gustavo Dudamel and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. He also went into the archives of the Philharmonic Orchestra and studied Bernstein artifacts and performance films.
Even with all of that preparation, Cooper still fumbled on his first conducting scene, where he was conducting a real orchestra and chorus as Leonard Bernstein. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Cooper recalled, "And I'm sitting there talking like Leonard Bernstein, directing them. And they're going, like, 'Who is this guy?' You know, and, 'He's gonna conduct us?' And by the way, I messed it up the whole first day." All the training, preparation, and enthusiasm still led to a fumbled day.
Cooper had to go back to square one to remember his first inspiration in the world of conducting - Bugs Bunny. The beloved little wabbit from Looney Tunes has taken up the conductor's baton several times in his cartoon career. "It started with Tom and Jerry and Bugs Bunny as a kid, watching them conduct," Cooper said. Bugs Bunny has performed classical music (or parodies of classical music) in some of his most memorable cartoons like "Rhapsody Rabbit", "Baton Bunny", "Long-Haired Hare", and "What's Opera, Doc?"
He was so enthralled by Bugs that he wanted to try conducting as a child. Cooper recalled that he resorted to "Asking Santa Claus for a baton when I was about 8 or so, and then, just being obsessed with conducting." Recalling his cartoon conducting origins, Cooper was able to deliver a successful performance, but we still have one burning question: Would Bugs have been thanked if Cooper had won the Oscar?
