Bradley Cooper, who took the baton from Jake Gyllenhaal, under fire for 'Maestro' role

Bradley Cooper was recently under fire for donning a large prosthetic nose for his role as legendary composer Leonard Bernstein in upcoming movie, Maestro.

To note, Maestro is marked as Cooper's first project as director after his Oscar-nominated movie A Star is Born.

However, many critics slammed Cooper for propagating anti-Semitism, while accused him of practising “Jewface” in the movie.

Some were of the opinion that this role should have been performed by half-Jewish actor Jake Gyllenhaal.

In 2018, Gyllenhaal lost his opportunity to portray the role of Leonard despite showing interest as Cooper’s company won the bid and the late composer’s estate handed the rights to the movie to American Hustle star.

Following the release of the movie trailer on August 15, Gyllenhaal’s 2021 interview with Deadline resurfaced where he expressed his dismay over not getting the movie bid.

“No one likes to admit this, but we got beat at our own game. That’s basically what happened. There’s really nothing more to say about it than that. There’s always another project,” said the 42-year-old.

Gyllenhaal explained, “Sticking your neck out, hoping to get to tell the stories you love and that have been in your heart for a very long time is something to be proud of.”

“And that story, that idea of playing one of the most preeminent Jewish artists in America and his struggle with his identity was in my heart for 20-some-odd years, but sometimes those things don’t work out,” he stated.

Gyllenhaal added, “In this business, if you’re lucky enough to stick it out for a while, we can easily forget that getting to tell the story isn’t the most important thing.”

Meanwhile, Maestro will be released in limited UK cinemas on November 24 and on Netflix on December 23.