Netflix’s Maestro: Carey Mulligan on playing Leonard Bernstein’s wife, preparing with Bradley Cooper, and the film’s incredible make-up

Mulligan explains how playing the role of Felicia Montealegre in Maestro pushed her out of her comfort zone – where she’d spent much of her career

Her performance in the Netflix film is the result of years of prep work to look, sound and behave as the real-life actress and wife to Leonard Bernstein did

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Carey Mulligan stars as Felicia Montealegre in Netflix’s “Maestro”. The actress reveals how she approached the role and how she prepared for it with Bradley Cooper. Photo: AP

Published: 5:15pm, 26 Dec 2023

Carey Mulligan recently realised that she has spent much of her professional career holding back.

That might be surprising to hear for an actress with two Oscar nominations, a Tony nod and a laundry list of extraordinary films and enviable roles.

But that has changed, in no small part because of fellow actor Bradley Cooper and Maestro, an all-encompassing project that would push her out of that comfort zone to play Felicia Montealegre, the elegant actress and wife of American conductor Leonard Bernstein.

As with Promising Young Woman, Maestro, now streaming on Netflix, would prove to be a transformative experience for her understanding of herself as an actress and what she is capable of. And it is likely to earn her another Oscar nomination and possibly her first win.

Mulligan and Bradley Cooper star as Felicia Montealegre and Leonard Bernstein in “Maestro”. Photo: AP

Mulligan had become used to only ever getting a few months of prep for most of her roles. Suddenly she had years, which was both wonderful and daunting after Cooper approached her about the role in the summer of 2018.