Bradley Cooper Career Retrospective | SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations

was there any point where you thought about walking away truly from this thing you love to do acting no I was serious about that yeah no I was definitely going to do it um then and then there was another moment where I was going to do it I think it was earlier and punch drunk love was playing at the at that Fairfax that theater right there and I loved Paul Thomas Anderson I went to see that movie and I remember thinking I can't leave this business I just if movies like that are getting made I have to stay in you have to work with them later so luckily I luckily it's like that balance love it more than than the whatever the negativity is right so so you know but like as long as I love it more that then I'm going to stay in it Bradley great to see you man you too we got a lot to talk about okay um can we start with just the mo we're g to we're going to we're going to climb through your career oh boy and end with Myro but before we do that okay just talk about this moment this thing you've been working on for almost seven years Maestro six and a half something like that turtleneck since I was like 12 I know it I thought it's very Lenny I don't know it is it is very Lenny um but to get all these and these shoes are for Kitchen Confidential which is so crazy this TV show I did in 2006 I hav't more these you still have them yeah isn't that crazy wow yeah nice it's like a tour of your career here uh but the seven Oscar nom ations all the critical praise and the love you're getting for this film what does the the moment feel like given how hard you work to get to this day it's kind of like it's all surreal you know you you don't really I I took my daughter to school and I missed the beginning of the announcements and then uh I walked back home and then I watched it with my mom and uh you know it was really incredible yeah it's like you never know if somebody's going to laugh at you or or hated or whatever and you know you just don't know and the older you get I get the more I work from like I think a more honest place so it feels more vulnerable and it feels like the stakes are higher um and also because time becomes such a you realize that time is it how you spend your time is the biggest currency yes um and because this one took so long I I definitely was hoping and praying that people would feel uh a connection to it and learn maybe or feel something that's why I love movies so much um so the these nods uh uh sort of uh are part of you know the feeling of that people um are responding to it so it's wonderful but more than just that it's like doing these Q&A quite honestly and talking to people and and having interactions that that's the real juice man that's like that that's the stuff I love so just to give uh you room full of actors to give people an idea of what this journey was like I said 6 and 1/2 years I think that's about right yeah when was The Germ of the idea born oo oh now we're now we're partying when was this the idea born and how long did it take you to get to the end the idea was born before I was around it was born by Fred burner and Amy dering who were producers who who had this idea of turning Lenny story into a a a motion picture and then I think that was 15 or so years ago um and then it was it had many sort of machinations and then stepen Spielberg was going to direct it and he approached me to maybe act in it um and I was just finishing a stars born and I thought I knew him a little bit and I knew that he was putting he puts his feelers out and maybe won't direct everything that he's sort of uh um sort of um playing with and I said do you think you're really going to direct this he said probably maybe not because I'm doing Westside Story um and I said well I would love to I don't know what the movie would be but I'd love to I've always wanted I love conducting was always like infatuated with conducting since I was a kid so he let me take the reins and then it was about getting the rights from the kids so I got to meet the children the three children Nina Alex and Jamie and then fell in love with them and and then it all sort of started just started doing research so that was during the post of a stars born so I guess that was 2017 and then because of covid we had another year and a half because we weren't able to record live during Co we would have had to like frame everybody and it just wouldn't worked so we it pushed a whole year and a half which is really a blessing because it gave us more time to prepare and it was just incremental you know researching there's so much primary source material and time I we just had time to really get the prosthetic right because it was over five decades and really wanted to create a human being not somebody that you could see as wearing anything that was the hope um so yeah and then just incredible group of people that I got to work with so we're going to we'll get into the nuts and bolts of of maestro in just a bit we go back to the beginning just a little bit because I think there are a lot of people in this room who are sitting now where you were sitting let's say 25 years ago when you're at the new school and doing the actor studio and all of that stuff so what was the what was the vision for you at that point of what a great career would look like so funny I just said I feel like I'm a little kid though especially with you you're always so commanding you're like a teacher is he always like I'm in trouble [ __ ] what did I do not what I'm going for not going for principal's office but go ahead um uh what was I doing I was like desperately pursuing a dream you know that I had since I was 11 but grew up in an environment where there were only like two friends that we could talk about movies before someone's like enough with the movie talk uh and then found myself in New York City in grad school with people like-minded people and in the city and it was kind of heaven and then um yeah and then people would come to that school that was the actor Studio MFA program at the new school and yeah there you go and um and uh these incredible artists would come and that was our thesis class which was the inside the actor studio and it was Heaven it was like a dream uh and be able to like just work go back to someone's apartment and work on the scene for the next class and it it was amazing and and still friends that I have till this day that I went to school with so there's a famous clip obviously of you at the actor studio with Robert dairo who you would go on to work with yeah so the guy who stood up somewhere in a row like row four here let's say and ask that question of Robert Tano I know that was an what a moment by the way given a moment for me then yeah yeah I mean given where you ended up too it's like that'ss yeah right yes I mean we've you and I have talked about this idea of it's like you're a basketball player and you have a a poster of Michael Jordan in your room growing up and then you end up playing on the Chicago Bulls with Michael Jordan which is your experience with Robert dairo how do you even I remember I went to high school with Alvin Williams and and then he wound up playing with Michael Jordan yeah yeah against him he played for the Toronto Raptors I remember that um yeah it's it it's weird that it's not surreal anymore because I love him so much and he's a dear friend but at the time yeah I was so terrified to ask that question I didn't like asking questions at that thesis um it was just so nerve-wracking I was shy I still am shy less shy but like I was that idea was really daunting and even the question that I wanted to ask I thought was stupid so the fact that he said good question he did right which was amazing it was like amazing I actually went to James lipton's office and I said because when they aired that episode they didn't they didn't air that question and I asked if I could get a copy of it so that I could keep it and they actually they only had like the the the really huge wide where I was like just like a little pin standing up you can still hear dairo say that's a good question and and so I kept that in my was VHS back then and I would I would play that I know this is like ridiculous but I would play that because as you know like we have to latch on to anything positive that happens to us inid all of this rejection and that was a major moment where I was like oh if you actually do what you feel deep down and risk being made fun of or embarrassing Something Beautiful could happen and him saying good question to me really um legitimized for me where I was at the time it really did and then he continued to do that you know I think about him as a barometer for how to behave because I put myself on tape for this movie called everybody's fine that Sam rawell got this this movie that he made and my mom played him I did it in my kitchen and and he called his agent and said can I meet with this guy who sent this tape in somehow he saw it um and I was in LA at the time doing Alias this TV show yeah yeah and uh and uh and and I we drove to the Bair Hotel it was during the debates it so it was like 2000 it was like 2007 yeah it was before hangover for sure and um and I went in and he and I still remember he like he was like kind of all over the place and then he was just like you know I I I saw your thing and um and I see I see it you're not going to get it but I uh L you're not get to but I just see it I see I see it okay and then he stood up and he hugged me and he's like God and he just wanted to say that wow that was it he wanted he took a young actor that he thought did a good job and he just wanted to let him know that he sees it and you know good luck it was crazy like like I mean and that was again another thing I lived off of so by the time we get to Limitless yeah and then I'm pitching him in his hotel room this character and it was the only reason the movie got made was because he agreed to do it and um you know and then silver Lightning's Playbook the only reason I think I got that thank you the only reason I got that movie was because he really was adamant to Harvey Weinstein and David O Russell that I should play that role so like he is a major major part of my uh um sort of evolution in this in this business and such a great lesson that just that one kernel of encouragement or hope shoots you a thousand you never know who you can influence you just it's like kindness man yeah so in those early days Bradley cuz I think everyone in this room has felt it you talked about the rejection a little bit and the struggle and you get that first shot on Sex in the City you know right yeah they shoot single people don't they I still remember the title Jake the downtown smoker was that your first big on screen right oh still in school at that point I think 99 something like 90 was it yeah yeah it was yeah yeah it was so it was so crazy because I was so you luckily I I had a manager named Christy Thomas I was working as a door man at the Morgan hotel and I was able to get a do you remember that hotel when it was like it was right by the um yeah on 38th of Madison I think yeah and Asia to Cuba was the restaurant and then uh uh Cindy Crawford Crawford and um her husband had the bar downstairs yeah I remember that people would always go through the the entrance of the hotel to not be seen so you'd see like that George CL the it's crazy and and um and so I was able to get a head shot so I was able to go on some auditions and that was an audition and so I was able to go on manyu which was already like a huge gift but I never booked anything so that was the first thing I booked and it was it was like what do you mean I have to actually do it I remember thinking like isn't it just auditions isn't that what it is like I really did like that's the career you just you have a job and then you audition and that's my life and and then like no you got this one so I was terrified I was and then I didn't had to drive a stick shift so they sent me they sent me to Modell's driving school to learn how to drive it I still didn't really do it well so they wound up doing somebody else because they were worried that s jco Park was going to hit her head on the dashboard so I was a mess when we were shooting it that's a lot of pressure a lot the minute they said don't worry we got it I was so happy and all I had to do was this you okay you know you know like the thing pulls up in the and the rest is history it was your big role you the the was that the same hotel and if I'm telling stories you don't want me to tell you you just tell me to shut up I think where you were it's not the good beginning of a is that the same Hotel no I don't think it's B I don't know Willie we're the thing M no no it's not that bad I set the bar way too high um where you're working maybe you were um you might have been running bags up to rooms and stuff Leo and Buddies came up I took Leon out of cao's room right so you were working at the hotel yeah I I worked the graveyard shift yeah and I took he and his like six friends to their room and I remember like riding the elevator and it was like a mirrored elevator and I was seeing his reflection and I remember thinking like wow he looks so young and I knew we were the same age and uh but I didn't really see his face his like baseball cap was down but I knew it was him and I was like uh I remember thinking like wow we're in completely how am I ever going to enter into that world I remember thinking that I took Fran dresser to her room there you go Fran drer ladies and gentl our president yes she was very nice but that has to be surreal now that you were in a league with Leo and your friends with Leo and as you said he lived on some other plane in that elevator you weren't it couldn't how do you process that stuff I don't think I look at it the same way anymore so so now I look at it as just the opportunity to to work with people I care about and and create something in the same way that I created with my friends in grad school it's the same exact thing just on a on a bigger level that has the opportunity to be Expo have more exposure that's the stuff that I know matters so I think I look at it differently I think back then it was things were like mythologized and he wasn't even a human being right you know what I mean and it was it was all like in some sort of different Universe kind of stuff the way I was thinking about everything but then as you get older one of the blessings is everything becomes much more real yeah and you realize everybody's just a person you know and that's a blessing it it's sometimes disappointing because it is fun to live in that mythological world right yeah and then you realize oh you know yeah Daniel de lis eats and he goes to sleep and you know he's actually a person you know kind of he's a little superum kind of yeah yeah he doesn't count he's in his own thing he's in his own thing um so you mentioned Alias wet hot American summmer is your first movie that's a thrill right that that was okay now I'm in a movie it was massive just because first of all I auditioned for I don't know if everybody remembers the state which was on MTV but I'm auditioning for Michael Ian Black Michael show Walter and David Wayne who are all just incredibly talented people that was like my audition in this tiny room and I didn't know who they were and they were so funny right away and I didn't know the state or anything and then I got this job and next thing I know we're shooting in this camp this actual Camp we're all living in the the nurses quarters for the summer and it's David Hyde Pierce and Janine Garf and Chris Maloney and Paul Rudd and Elizabeth Banks it was crazy and I'm just watching I would just go down and watch all these people work every day and it was incredible it was like it was a totally eye opening and just to see the comedic timing and how open everybody was and kind especially Janine Janine Garo was so nice to me and um it was it was wonderful and you never forget that she was kind to you yes you never forget you just don't forget that no no you never forget that and Amy poer it was awesome yeah okay I'm going to jump around a little bit so forgive me if I don't hit your favorite Bradley Cooper movie you can blame me um let's go Wedding Crashers yes [Applause] okay 2005 sack Lodge steals the movie sack sack Christ oh Christopher Walkin you you've said which I thought I found was so interesting giving given all the the the people you've worked with including daira that watching Vince vaugh on that movie yeah taught you a ton yeah just his willingness to fail was nuts yeah to to watch does that mean willing means that like he had already crushed the scene it was perfect but he but he felt like he wanted to try more things and and you know he was just so willing to not get it right but to explore and I never seen that before at least and I never approached I I approached everything with such um trying to muscle it and do the right thing you know do the right way to do a scene and I'm like oh no no it's about exploring and being open and listening and I just I to see this again this sort of mythological figure and he was like such a tough guy and he was the quickest guy and you know he like had everything you know in my mind and then to watch him just be willing to be so loose and free and willing to to to fall in his face was very inspired Ing and then watching Christopher walking was like that was just insane you know you have like deer but he and dear that was and he was so nice by the way was he good oh yeah he was awesome he was awesome what did that role do do for you in Hollywood in your story I was like sitting there we doing he's like Bradley he's like he's like this is going to be a bad walk but I haven't done walking he's like I can sit in your future Bradley he's like he's like you're going to be sitting I can't do them anymore so just stay with it stay with it like he's like I see you like on like uh you got to live like you're like living by the beach and I'm like you know I live in New York still at this time he like or was I or no I was in LA he like it's like you live like on Malibu he's like and you're drivve like a fancy car he's like that's how I see you Bradley and it was so weird I was he's like and I was like thanks Christopher it so weird come on that's a good Chris Walkin yeah by the way I think he was right right didn't you live on the beach in Malibu eventually no never did no okay close I drove up the PCH though okay okay good good but what so that role where people are like oo that guy's good he's funny what did that do for you moving forward off well that is where I really learned a lot actually about this business and I remember I don't know if I heard it or read it maybe it was Elia Kazan life which is one of the greatest autobiographies of all time if you haven't read it oh my gosh and I don't know if he said it there but he talks about if you're going to audition to play a cowboy you better bring your a horse and meaning like you have to convince someone that you're this person because they're not going to think it inherently and I had been on Alias playing like the nicest guy in the world um and and then other things I was addition the feedback was always like you know Bradley yeah he's such a nice guy and I remember was like really I was like okay and and it was really I was like whoa am I always just G to be playing these roles of like the nice friend who's like how was your how's your job when the audience knows she's like on a mission you know and um and so that was a huge moment because I auditioned to play the heavy in a comedy like the most horrific human being and that I got that role was like a major thing uh for me just personally of like okay like you can change people's minds um if you just you know keep at it you know it's like what Jay-Z said at the Grammys the other night I loved it like just keep what was the exact words but like keep don't what did he say keep showing up love that he said that it's like keep showing up right right and so that was Major and then after that I was like Brad he's an [ __ ] is he well that's right no I'm not kidding dude right like he's kind of an [ __ ] I was going to ask you that did you get sort of was like you did right like we have this great role you're oh he's a total [ __ ] CU I like guys watch alias was going to say if you didn't watch Alias you kind of thought you were an [ __ ] yeah he's just playing himself yeah it was really funny probably how I got The Hangover that might be it and by the way that touch football game in the yard on uh on and and was just phenomenal Crashers that was fun yeah that was good that was great so you mentioned uh let's go to The Hangover that's four years later yeah and a lot in between a lot of doubt in between well that's what I was going to say so that in most people's mind just the general public you turn up in The Hangover they go oh yeah CU The Hangover that's Wedding Crashers The Wedding Crashers was 05 it came out in ' 05 shot at 03 and then hangover is not till 2008 comes out in nine yeah so that's you know years later you know I'm in my early 30s and um getting jobs but um all the problem was I always really felt deep down that I wanted to do what I'm actually doing now and so there was a level of frustration but I felt like I wasn't even able to voice that frustration uh I remember when I left Alias I had so many dear friends who like you're an idiot because I asked to leave I probably would have got fired but I did ask to leave and and I paid off my student loans and it was a steady paycheck but I felt something deep inside that I I wasn't going to make it meaning me as a human if I kept doing this it wasn't fulfill filling and I I had and I and it was killing me uh and so that was it was weird to feel that but not feel like you could voice it cuz it sounds ridiculous because you just be grateful and and it was a very it was a it was a weird time um so much so that I remember doing a play at Williamstown right before hangover where I was definitely going to hang it up uh I thought that I'm just not built for this also Alias was the dawn of uh message boards and there was a thing called Television Without Pity I don't know if you remember that and it was a dialup modem back then with a computer and it's embarrassing to even say but like I remember when I first did this show I'm moved to LA which I hated and I was like this is this is like the greatest thing ever and then I'm like wait people comment on the show this is amazing great let me check it out let me check it out and I'm like and it was like you know the the the the the computer with the blue or yellow in the back you know what I mean and like the mouse and you do wait like ding ding ding ding and then you're waiting for it to load which takes like 2 minutes so you're just waiting to read what people are saying about it's so narcissistic and then I still I I like it was yesterday they're like who is this guy they cast with bleached blonde hair like Sydney Bristo like he's dirty who cast him what were the producers thinking and I was just like I mean it took my breath away yeah and then people say like oh no they just nobody that's somebody in their basement you know what I mean and then the New York Times did a beast how message WS are influencing networks and how they write their shows and they cited the Alias so I was like I'm not crazy because I went from like working a lot to not at all I was like working two days a week and I was like holy [ __ ] so that was like the dawn of what we now live all of us live in this world of you know no matter what work you have there's a people talking you can go on and and it it really was like well I knew that this business I maybe wasn't made for this business because I'm so such a sensitive person and like I thought I don't know if I have the ability to cuz we have to keep our thin skin our skin thin that's the problem like if we get like Rhino my friend said this other day if we get like rhino skin where nothing can hurt us that's a tough place to create from because then you you have this armor on and how am I going to show you my soul so we can connect if I have armor on and so it's it's a very confusing I think business to being in that we're in where we're trying to tell stories that are truthful and we're working from the most honest place we can to be vulnerable yet there is a world that is pretty devastating you know if you allow it to seep in so that was just the beginning of it and I didn't think I had it also made me doubt that I even have the ability because of someone's saying that you're like yeah I am dirty I guess I'm dirty and like you know they bleached my hair so I didn't look like Michael Varan at all you know what I mean that's why you you start defending yourself to the air you know it's crazy and and um you know so that was like that was that was tough and and it was like 10 years uh before I stopped reading stuff really yeah like I I definitely was like something that like plagued me wow and um and so that coupled with not getting roles that I felt I wanted to do I was like oh [ __ ] it man I just can't do this anymore and then for whatever reason Todd Phillips who I had met 6 months earlier on The Hangover just a meeting sends this email while I'm at jwn like let's do this [ __ ] and I was like and it was like what I called my like yeah they're going to they want to do the hangover and I was like really and they're like yeah Vegas in the fall I hate Vegas okay and then we did it was an Inc and then I got to I Knew Zach before but and they like Zach's in it and EDH Helm was already cast but it was going to be at some point like Paul rod and somebody else and the budget got too big and really we were only cast because the budget shrunk and um that that's why it's true you get asked Todd and um and then it just you know it wound up being an incredible experience so was there a chance that's by the way such a profound point about having to be vulnerable but also you're then you're exposing yourself to all the [ __ ] that comes with being as well known as you are but was there any point where you thought about walking away truly from this thing you love to do AC yeah no I was serious about that yeah no I was definitely going to do it um then and then there was another moment where I was going to do it I think it was earlier uh and then I and punch drunk love was playing at the at that Fairfax that theater right there and I loved Paul Thomas Anderson I went to see that movie and I remember thinking I can't leave this business I just if movies like that are getting made I have to stay in so got to work with them later so luckily I luckily it's like that balance do you love it more than than the whatever the negativity is right so so you know but like as long as I love it more that then I'm going to stay in it yeah yeah so The Hangover becomes a hit which exceeded certainly your imagination of what it could be it spins off two more movies what did that do to your life number one and to your career in terms of doors opened or changing the way holwood perceived you in some way how did that change things well on a day-to-day life like having been on Alias when Jennifer Garner skyrocketed um I was all and even like being at the event like Alias events like you know no one was always just like yeah yeah right you know so I was always used to that and it sucked you know you're like am I invisible uh and then all of a sudden The Hangover happened and all of a sudden it started to be the person that they want to talk to and it was awesome it felt great you know you're like oh and um and then and then you realize like it feels good for a second and then it's just becomes a part of life and then it's meaningless you know um uh but what what the hangover and I was also older than you know when I was Alias was I was 25 or 26 by the time hangover happened I was in my mid-30s so and I had watched some of my friends really go like get everything I thought I wanted and then realize like they're still miserable um and not Jen Garner but I mean like in general um but but you know and it was just I I was like oh yeah you know again these illusions that that go away and you're like oh yeah that's never going to make you happy anyway it's you know so luckily I knew that about Fame then so there were no there were no trappings at that point um but what hangover did do in terms of uh the business was it allowed me to get a job on a movie where I could where I was able to be the center of it well it was Limitless there's no way that that relativity would have funded a movie if I wasn't in The Hangover if I was the guy from Wedding Crashers and like All About Steve and you know like He's Just Not That Into You I wouldn't have gotten li no but you know mean but it's true yeah yeah yeah um and then that was that that actually really was the movie I think that um opened doors within the studio system that then if Robert dairo said maybe he's right for for Silver Linings that they would even ever even sort of contemplate it because they could look at Limitless which worked so so yeah that was a huge thing career-wise and Limitless you get to produce too right I wound up executive producing only not not out of the beginning that was just the beginning of I think me um realizing how much I love the process and starting to be much more a part of it than just the acting and so um Ryan the the head of Relativity I think gave me that credit after the movie we' gone through and he said you know you did so much more than just act in it we want to give you credit so what does that mean what were you doing dayto day on the set it was was more than just dayto day it was like in the post production and the editing and then we reshot the ending and just really being a part of like oh this guy cares about the story you know and Neil Berger being collaborative of the director and allowing me to to be a part of that process and realizing that maybe oh this guy's actually wants to help the movie be better not just him in the movie be better yeah and then Silver Linings comes out the next year and you've said that was the breakout breakthrough moment you get nominated for an Oscar for best actress you were made for for actor I was thinking of Jen I was thinking of Jennifer yeah it was nominated for so many but he was one of them he was one of them but also a guy from Philly in this movie I mean it feels a little bit like you were made for that role did it feel that way when you read the script that you like yes it's a difficult part but like this is I have to do this I did not think I was made for it uh no no I was terrified of it um and it was only Robert Deniro's belief in me that helped and then once I got there and started working on it uh David or Russell was so wonderful and Jen Lawrence was just so incredible to work with and we had to do and really we got to know each other on this dance rehearsal that we started before we started shooting and we was really doing the dance every day that we would do in between working that I think we became so comfortable and that bled into acting together um and even the crew I F I love Dave Thompson who was the camera operator and there was a Danish DP who was awesome uh um and it no sorry no it was it was um that was in Limitless no there's a great DP uh for for Silver Linings and it I just loved the whole process that was a different way of shoot we only had 32 days to shoot that film so it wasn't much at all and we were really just and and shelle who was the first ad and xan I I fell in love with her and we we did stars born together and uh and and Maestro part of Maestro and I just really found my love for the crew and and the whole experience because I really David or Russell really it was like going to film school he really invited me into his process and we edited the whole movie together and uh and Jay who was his Eder wound up uh doing a stars born and really I just forged friendships that then carried forth it feels like at that point you know maybe not the next movie but eventually you want to direct something if you're in the room confidence that like oh I think that well certainly if David or Russell is asking you your ideas you know again somebody believing in you you start to be more open with giving them and thinking and and being creative and he allowed me that and then that carried into American Hustle which we did right after Silver Linings um so yeah that was really that was really wonderful he really gave me a gift there so how do you explain the to this audience the David O Russell experience what's unique about him what's great about him why do you keep going back for for more well in that time period um it it was he he's infectious his creative impulses and and and the thing that I really took away from those experiences were willingness to to Pivot on a if there's a better idea or there's something you like here just because you've predetermined something else doesn't mean you have to live by that let's go explore that so again like Vince Fawn but as a filmmaker this this freedom to explore I had never been a part of before I had never seen a filmmaker be that dextrous and that open and because of that it's terrifying for an actor potentially because really when you when you would show up on set you know everybody he would always huddle in a in a van with the first idian go over the day and ask actors to come in and so we were casting my brother and I thought at at one point my mom was going to maybe play my mom in the movie we talked but but the wonderful actress who was didn't want thank God but um but but but I did think maybe my cousin would be good to play my brother my cousin Colin and my uncle his dad read Dao's role for him we all met at a hotel the Four Seasons and Bob wanted to hear somebody from Philly read his lines which was hilarious so I'm sitting there with my Uncle Ernie who was an H H HVAC guy and and and reading lines with Bob it was just so crazy and Bob would be like no to do it again just do it again and and my uncle's like okay and so my cousin came one morning I was like David maybe my cousin cuz he's like Ernie did a good job and I was like well my cousin's like a little older than me it could be perfect so he I was like Colin just come in and like meet David and he's like yo Holmes I don't know bro and I was like I was like No just do it just do it so he comes in I remember David's like on this like back roller thing and Colin and David's like and this is what it was like for all the he's like okay so start the scene and my cousin starts reading the lines you know you know I got nothing for love for your brother and you know I got a big thing and you don't you know I'm married you don't you're divorced that thing that they have when they first meet uh that Shay wigam was incredible as my brother were as us brothers and uh and Colin was was like start talking and then David's like no no but say it to him say it like you know it's your you love him and and my cousin like I do love it's Bradley I love him Dave was like no but do it but do it and I'm like Colin you just got to do it and he's like no no I'll do it and he starts like getting totally red and like these veins and I'm like oh my God and I realized like yeah this is terrifying CU he kept saying no I'm going to do it I'll do it on the day and he's like no no you got to do it now bro and and that was the way it was every day like we had to like we would come in and David would explore and he would want you to do it now like not in your wardrobe yet like let's do it now like in the trailer like Jen come in Bob let's figure this thing out and we would just have to start like being on it so it was it was great because I just learned to like be prepared the second I arrive on set at base camp and that was very unique right right and then did you carry that mentality with you we can go to stars born as a director thank you where yes indeed so now you've like you've been to C like you've studied with all these incredible directors and you worked with everybody and I'd work with Clint at that point sniper yeah I don't mean to skip sniper infal yeah but I mean we'll talk about sniper really quickly because that was a huge deal not just because it was such a success but the Clint Eastwood experience for you yeah I mean you know Clint Eastwood you know talk about mythological really and like that he lives up to it you know he's kind of everything you want in my experience he was absolutely everything I could ever want him to be a jazz musician Depression era kid survived a plane crash when he was in his 20s um just doesn't give a [ __ ] like truly like so much like don't you think the baby's fake it doesn't matter I think we should spend the money okay he's he stuck with that baby I was like all right stuck all right bro luckily no one noticed nobody noticed but but he he's so uh he he's a jazz musician and that's how he makes his movies and um there's an effortlessness and the crew that he works with has been with him forever and their children have become part of the crew uh one of the Pas had a whole other life and he would just leave that to come work on these movies and it was really wonderful and fast he also shoots fast as everybody says but I didn't I didn't feel like it sacrificed any Integrity of the film at all and uh he shoots rehearsal um he doesn't ask questions but then he gives these beautiful little notes here and there and and and then just honestly like the way I felt when I worked on licorice pizza that Paul Thomas Anderson was there it just gives it gives the actors energy I mean imagine acting for Paul Thomas Anderson that that alone gives you so much energy and that it was Clint Eastwood I was just I wanted to do everything I possibly could so that he would feel happy you know it was definitely a father thing like I just wanted to show up I remember because I was 185 pounds I talked like this and we had just gone to medloan Texas to meet with Chris Kyle's parent his his his mom and dad and then his widow and the two children and as we left I was like okay so we're shooting in in seven months so I'm going to you know he was 2 30 40 lbs and he's like so I'm Clint I need time and then I you know the voice I'm going to work with this guy Tim monik that lean out to ca to B he's like yeah I mean okay didn't I was like Clint do you think I was just going to show up like this and and I remember the first day of shooting and then we did a take and he's like is that how you're gonna do it and then he would make fun of me the whole movie We would like go to dinner and I would kind of stay in Chris's voice and he would be or he's like I'll have the and he would like do like make fun of me as Chris Kyle like he was just loose he was just he was one and and and I would also always ask him all those sniping scenes you know I would ask him to be close so like just off camera would be Clint you know with all his sunblock on and the hat and he's like all right there he is and I'm like I'm like Clint just talk me through there you gonna get that [ __ ] all right there he is and it was you know there was a lot of oddly a lot of laughs on that set um but I really learned about with him looseness just loose you know loose man he's just Lo the way he walks it's like he's just loose yeah you know and he was 80 88 then I think he's 93 now maybe was 85 unbelievable talk about surreal you're doing a scene in Clin right here I mean yeah I remember we were doing this one scene where there's supposed to be a dog barking and Chris is having post-traumatic uh issues so he hears the dog and it reminds you of a moment in the movie where a dog was going after oh no I'm sorry it was a lawnmower it was a lawn mower and I remember like we're shooting a scene in Clint there and the lawnmower goes godamn it a [ __ ] lawnmower like no Clint Clint it's in the [Applause] movie oh my God was somebody godamn it oh my God that was hilarious so so now at that point you've been to a series of master classes right with all these incredible directors and you've worked with diniro and all that now you're ready right now you're ready for stars born I felt I was yeah I did right yeah thank you so the beginning of that process looks like what like okay I'm doing this this is big this is my first time doing this there going to be a lot of people looking at it watching how I do yeah how'd you select the project the cast and and and it's a long it's a longer story than even Maestro because it was a movie that Clint Eastwood was going to direct uh with Beyonce and he asked me to do it as an actor before American Sniper before I had done Elephant Man for a year on Broadway and I was to thank you Tony nominated thanks and I and I knew I was I I didn't think I was able to play this sort of weather drunk uh guy I really didn't I thought that I was G to I I just felt I I hadn't lived enough and I and that was a hard I mean you're Idol and I just I knew it I don't know how I knew it but certain things I just feel like I've known and I went to his office and I said Clint I don't I think I'd be acting and um and that's not a good thing to say no to him you know because he's he could be Sean Penn describes Clint Eastwood he's like you know who Clint Eastwood is he doesn't have one of these a rearview mirror and I was like oh [ __ ] you know and he was but it's cool it's interesting it's like and and I remember he was like all right and so rani's Playbook was just had been out and he was like well good luck with the silver Bubby Bop and I was like well that's it I'll never see this man again Bob Bob and I was like oh [ __ ] and then uh Stephen Spielberg was gonna make American Sniper and then he dropped out and then Clint happened to be reading it while he was making Jersey Boys the book and and Greg Silverman knew that so I called Clint again and I was like and he was so nice he finished over the weekend he said let's make the movie so we made it and then we were at the chat Marmon and Annie Lennox was singing at the Grammys I believe and it was so powerful and in that moment I'm like watching her sing and I said to Clint you know maybe we should do this stars born movie look at this like there's nothing more powerful than somebody singing and he and he thought about it for a day or two and it sort of as he is you know he had moved on H but I couldn't get it out of my head I couldn't get like that Annie Lennox performance out of my head and that I went to bed that night and I saw the beginning of the movie and I went to Greg Silverman the next day and I pitched him I said look I know this is crazy but he had known because of American Sniper uh I was such I produced that movie and brought the book to Clint so I was a big part of the making of that film so he knew that about me and I said um here's like the first 10 minutes of the film which wound up not being the first 10 minutes and I said you know and he said okay if you can make it for under $25 million and you can get Beyonce I'll do it and uh and so then I went to Beyonce's house and Jay-Z was watching Judge Judy I still remember no yeah I'm not kidding St and and I was and I was freaking I was so I remember I had this weird cough when I was pitching it to her like it was so crazy I'm like and then this and then uh and it was crazy and then and then she was and she was incredible and so was he and and we developed it for like a year together and she was I mean she's one of the greatest people of all time and um and then that fell through and then I was like oh maybe it's Adele and he's like a fish and then he his career is in the tank and he moves to England and meets this person it's kind of like a comedy and then she didn't really text I think she texted me back once but it didn't it didn't she was busy and then I was at this cancer benefit and Lady Gaga is singing laon Rose at this cancer benefit and I was like oh it just like blew the doors off of the whole place and it was in that moment was like well that's what was I even thinking and then I asked to meet her and I drove to there we go with the Chris Walkin I drove up to Malibu and I and I met so he right it was her house though and I met with her and and it was like she came down the stairs I'm not even kidding it was like right away it was like oh she's like a girl from Jersey and like it she was so you want to eat some pasta and we're eating and I'm like you want to sing together next thing we're singing at the piano and that was it I was like this is it I was like she if I could just capture this person that's sitting with me on her porch and then she would and then she just starts singing effortlessly and it's like it's beyond I mean it really is she is so gifted and that's where I was like okay and then Eric Roth and another gentleman we wrote the script and she was such a huge part of the writing of the script and really trying to get it to a place where like she could just be at ease and show her soul and and make a movie and then Sam ellia came on and and it just was wonderful it was and then I got to work with Lucas Nelson who's Willie Nelson's son and and we we got to sing live on stage coach in Glastonberry and it was crazy it was just like the one I don't think people appreciate the live singing part of it which you did you were singing live yeah because you had to right I thought we had to because again this Annie Lennox moment it's like you know I I was surprised when I learned that some movies you know many movies at that point Up Until then people really weren't singing live and um so it was and I was like I there's no version where we have Lady Gaga and she's not singing I mean what what am I doing as a director cuz she could like that and um like in the table reach just starts singing and just everybody's crying immediately and so I knew that I just had to get to a place place where I could at least like sing next to her if my bandwidth was like that in terms of vocal range and so I just worked like a dog for a year with this wonderful teacher Roger love and that was the beginning of like really learning like if I put the work in then then it we could have fun on set and it was it was it was it was incredible it was incredible there's a viral video of her singing at that table read and you're just like I think we got what we need this I think this is gonna work I think this is gonna work yeah it's incredible um so the success of that movie given all the work he put in like Maestro years and years and years this man does nothing lightly um had to be so gratifying your first swing at being a director all the love you guys got for that film all the awards you got for that film did that feel like okay I can do this I can direct a big film and this is a part of who I am now that's a good question you know actually it was the um we were head we we gotten to the Venice Film Festival which was amazing and we were riding on the boat like there you ride the boat to the theater and it was pouring down rain and I remember thinking no matter what happens cuz I loved the movie I really felt like the movie I set out to make we we made and I loved it I just loved it and I thought no matter what happens having now shared with you this whole feeling of like you know the onslaught of comments that was so part built into me I thought please don't shame on me if I let anybody else dictate what I know we all went through and accomplished and said that to myself I think like under my breath as we were going into that theater so the truth is like that's all that matters because otherwise I'm you're just left to so many other people dictating what you deem is worthy of of putting your time and effort into it so I'm lucky that it was well received but my hope is that even if it wasn't I would have kept going you know that because the truth is all about the doing and we all had an incredible time and that's all that matters that's that actually is all that matters it's true I mean that's just the truth then you got up and sang at the Oscars which God bless you man oh I was I did not want to do that I was nervous I was nervous for you I was like a stage mom you were in the front row I was like I know he's going up you're just sitting there like what was that like that was unbelievable that was crazy but you nailed it thanks W that was not like a dream of mine you know I wasn't like oo I'd love to sing live in front of a televised audience that sounds like a [ __ ] nightmare um but but it was one of those things were like you know it was the song nominating you sing the song so I would look like an idiot if she singing there with some other dude and I'm sitting there like is that a great song I like I I had no choice uh and also because we Sayang it live like if I didn't do that well the whole movie would be tainted you would think like oh they changed his voice or that wasn't him like I there was no choice it was like one of those moments where you're like you just got to do it yeah um so we worked I worked really hard I did a vocal warm-up during the Oscars I went to a room like I was like just I really like I meditate anyway and I was just try to like Zen out the whole show and and the truth is I pitch that we come out of the audience because I knew I would be too terrified if we came out of the I'm not kidding I was like I have an idea like what do you want to do I was like let's come out of the audience cuz I honestly I was like then I'm not like going into another place that I'm already here I feel the room and then I just get up and I start singing and for the first like four seconds my back's to the audience you know I really did I was like this I think I could do that but the idea of like waiting on the side and then coming out I thought was too terrifying um and it worked out because then it wound up being I thought much more like the movie yes it looks beautiful too as well yeah all right let's let's go to Maestro guys come on come on has everyone everyone has seen the movie yeah isn't it incredible truly truly we're going to watch the whole thing get comfortable folks we're about to watch We're handing out turtleneck yeah we are going to watch a clip in in just a second but man I just have to congratulate you on it man it is I know how hard and how long you worked on it I know how much it meant to you and you just absolutely nailed it and all the love you're getting is so welld deserved and all the accolades that are coming for it I remember like years ago you telling me I'm thinking about doing this thing oh Leonard burn side okay like okay yeah I trust you let's see where this goes how did you approach narrowing down so like you've said it wasn't going to be a biopic it was going to be a love story Story how did you decide this was the right guy and this was the right story about his life again it came down to what do I want to uh Express and and and and reveal and explore for you and he's such an incredibly Dynamic individual and you know that from like any video of him talking it's just it's like pouring out of the screen and and you have him documented from the time that he's 25 all the way till he's 72 basically and I I knew right away like sen is an incredible documentary right like they're never going to make a movie because the documentary is Senna and I felt like if I was going to make a movie about sort of stuff his accomplishments that I would just make a documentary there'd be no point what could I do maybe to bring part of myself or what I think could be I could offer up and to me as I was researching it was oh what I don't see is this relationship that's just fascinating and and these two people and and to me they they reflect their relationship reflects so much of humanity and the complications and seeming hypocrisy and the joy and the and the frivolity and then the just the utter sorrow and I just feels like wow this is like this is a wonderful pot to to start to pour stuff into and if we can make it and we can serve Lenny's a contribution as an artist as a composer and a conductor if we make it to his music and I also thought that he he was so unorthodox and so groundbreaking that I felt like the structure of the movie had to be unorthodox and and those were the things that were swirling around as I was researching and it felt like yeah it's got to be a musical poem about these two and that's what we did it's a hell of a scene on many levels from the actors from the director I love watching you watch that what are you looking for what are you watching as you see that I was watching her just crush it and I was just thinking about about what to say after this was over you're doing great you're doing great yeah about how like you know as we all know you know you're only as good as your partner and and um she was just i' I've had wonderful experience I've been so lucky working with Incredible actors I don't know if it was the role with her and I want to say like that's the best person i' ever worked with but but I have to say in this movie I mean she just brought it every day so I mean she and that is that was we only did that three times that was the third take and that was it we went home and she was just I just like a few different things and she just exploded and it was just so thrilling to act with somebody who's just so present and doesn't allow me to act you know because she demands my attention and that's all you want and she's just she's the greatest she's amazing can you talk about the framing of that shot it's almost like looking at a painting of a certain time in the Upper West Side of New York with the balloons going past and just talk a little bit about that shot I me that's that's Mark Bridges the costume designer and Kevin Thompson production designer and matd letique and everybody and all of their crew they're just incredible people and we we you know and they Kevin Thompson built that set based on their second floor Dakota depart apartment that we were able to have access to thank thankfully to the owner and and go there and spend and I was able to go there on Thanksgiving and saw that which was awesome years before and um there's that photo um I can't remember the photographer with the woman and her daughter and snoopies going by and they're just not even interested and that was the beginning of that years ago and I thought oh there could be a way and I just trying to figure out what's the setup for the joke and then Snoopy in the vestibule and because he's sort of his ego you know is inflated at so much in that point um and she was the tether and you know and then to be able to to talk about all these ideas with people and then create that at the end and and um my dream was always for it to be one I prepared myself to do coverage but my Hope was based on the structure cinematically of the film that the close-ups were coming after with his Thursday rehearsal and her deposition to his sister at the Palm Court and it really was due to Carrie and her ability to hold the scene in that frame uh that allowed us to be so bold cinematically um because it was also like you know when he comes in and like it's almost like he's aware of the frame because he wants to leave but he's like but he does want that drink so go get the drink and then Retreat you know and then when he's had enough he goes and they meet in the middle and you know and that with the windows and then yeah it all just sort of worked out yeah it's absolutely beautiful we do have a few questions from the audience before we let you go Bradley um this one calls comes from um Tatiana asked how has your approach to your roles evolved over the years I guess in terms of preparation and things like that it's evolved a lot I mean it's the same concept uh you know say what you mean to mean what you know just mean what you say you know try not to act do you know what I mean when I say that I know it's a weird way to say it but like you know when you're acting right especially you know on stage you realize it you know and it's having a child like you know they don't lose their voice and they scream all day long because they're loose and like you know so many auditions where we'd have to I'd have to do like an emotional scene I wasn't really dropped in so I would be horse like for a couple hours later because I wasn't really connected and it was really like taking that element to to preparation of movie roles and and I think also because I did have to do other things I knew I had to bank the character way before so so you know Lenny had to be banked meaning like I felt like I was him um you know months and months before we started shooting so that I could focus on other things and then on the day just take that leap of faith that he would come in in not any other way than really just that and then then just start doing and and I was terrified every day I think it was a 56 day suit shoot and every I was talking I did an interview with Kazu hero the incredible uh prosthetic makeup artist that we worked on together with this and I talked about like and it's true like every morning I was terrified that I didn't know if Lenny was going to come in and and it never got old like every day there was that as I would like put the Wardrobe on before I would walk back the curtain cuz it was all in one trailer we would get ready before crew call and then I would sort of told myself like you you got to be Lenny before you leave this trailer and so you sit back in the chair and all of a sudden you know i' sort of the voice comes out and the breathing and the talking and and then you know I just I never knew if it was going to happen but every day it did thank goodness um and and that you know I I think also how it's evolved is um this sort of Vince vaugh um you know thing of of like and and and Christopher Walkin being loose and and Clint being and David Russell the this sort of theme of the night which is like you know really being willing to be loose um being taking on things that I'm absolutely terrified of I remember I remember in grad school William defog came to our school and they asked him about roles and he said I don't like to do anything that I'm not scared of and I remember being in the audience thinking well that's not me really I remember going like I only want to do something that I think I could do well which isn't many things and and for the beginning of working I just tried to be me like tried to be real and breathing and talking because you can hear when your voice isn't connected you know and there's nothing worse when you're acting you're like who the [ __ ] is that you know cuz your your breathing is like to hear it's just hard it's not fun either right it's just not fun um so I I I definitely as I've gotten older I'm like no risk risk it's okay to fail like it's the only way um I was watching this amazing total segue FIFA documentary uh where they're talking about all these great soccer players and one of the the captains was talking to the goalie at the World Cup and he was saying what's going on I could tell that you're so tense he's like I feel like you just want to be perfect but you have to make mistakes that's the only way it's the only way like you are you know you're a great goalie right and he's like he's like yeah so you have to you're going to I make mistakes and then we we go in the pitch the next day and like that that I I've definitely started to digest that way of thinking and being as a as a in as an actor where you know it's okay you know if I fall in my face it's okay you know but I want to grow I I want to keep growing and exploring and so that that's something that has um as I've gotten older I I'm much much more uh bold it's a good place to be isn't it not be afraid um Domenico asks well there's still fear well yeah but if you work hard I find if I work hard enough then the fear does go away I'm terrified that moment of the crossover to the character but once that happens and then I feel like I'm connected and I could hear him in me then I am I don't have fear it's true it's funny as you talk about playing Lenny was it strange for you maybe I'm not asking this right but it was it strange for you to be so close as close as a person can be to someone you never met someone who died 35 years ago and to have him with you in so many ways and do you almost like miss him do you know what I mean does that make sense it does yeah there's this book uh the private world of Leonard Bernstein that John grw and I there's stuff all over my house of lennies I really and like and it's like I'll walk by and there's I see him and I'm like I do I I did it the other day I was like cleaning up and I'm like hey man like yeah yeah it's I I never met Chris Kyle I talked to him on the phone once but he was he was horribly murdered before we made that movie and um and and and I know this sounds crazy but even Joseph Merrick um I I felt like I know him um The Elephant Man um so much so um it's a weird thing I can't explain it other than it feel because I do feel like I knew Lenny and you know and obviously I I don't uh but I do I do feel him big time here's one from Dominico during the early days of your journey what was the one thing you continuously did or told yourself to get through struggle and adversity the rejection and all the things you talked about earlier it it wasn't so much something I told myself cuz left to myself I would have imploded no question it was people it was surrounding myself with people that loved me that I loved that would tell me the truth but believed in me and even if it's one person or one moment like dairo saying that thing or somebody or like a great moment in a class um but it was people people throughout my life I've been so lucky and um and and I guess the knowledge that to hold on to that because without that Community I I would never have survived no question just no question there's a lot of interest in your dialect coach yeah who you've worked with a bunch on different roles he's he's in Australia he's like he was said a nice email but it was almost like can you stop saying my name cuz he like doesn't do interviews or anything like Tim monic Tim monik Tim timic yeah well Tim monik is on this card he's he's famous uh how important has he been to your sucess I me clearly very um yeah he he changed the the whole the whole mode I guess because um early on back to this thing of you hear your voice and you could tell when you're not connected um this idea part of the expansion was can I play a human being that has a different voice than me which is terrifying and so American Sniper was the first time I did that um besides Elephant Man uh but that was I didn't work with Tim on that but there's something weird that happened with eleph man that I felt connected to him when I was young but but with American Sniper was the first time and I I asked to work with him and I was so lucky that he was free and we spent months five days a week and he said he had a structure we look at exactly the breathing pattern of the character because I had all of these tapes of Chris Kyle to work from uh which was just invaluable and it was the same same thing with Lenny and we had Lenny all these different ages there's this great audio recording that we put in the movie of him leaving a message for Jerome Robbins when he had just played Fancy free with Aaron Copeland and he was talking about this thing and and and so I had that with the pitch of his voice and then obviously all of the other things of his life as he got older so he had all of this material and Tim just has an incredible way of you know Brick by Brick you know doing it very sort of methodically and then to a point where it then becomes not an accent but but a voice and I work with him on a stars born and Nightmare alley and and I anytime that I'm take on a character that has a different voice than mine like I go to him right away and you don't do it lightly doesn't he kind of like move in with you a little bit kind of yeah luckily I love to cook so and he loves to eat it's a good gig for him actually and he loves my daughter so it's good yeah um how long does it take you sort of touched on this with Lenny how long does it take for you to get into character when you show up on a set or even preparing for the movie well on the set it's really that moment it happens in a second it's just uh would show up on this movie before crew call and then we would start the prosthetic and then and then by the time it was to a point before like that whatever hair piece or wig was going on and eyebrows I would go put the Wardrobe on and then come back in for that so in that period of 4 minutes or so before I would come back into the onto the into the chair I I would just take a breath and be Lenny so it wasn't long at all um and I and the same thing with the on stage I I didn't have a big sort of ritualistic process I would sort of bre well actually as I'm saying this I'm like lying because elephant man he actually becomes the character on stage so it actually happens on stage which was actually another great thing like the like the Oscars where oh I just get it in the room this is great I'm not like doing this crazy thing backstage um but yeah I I find that if I put all the work in then it just happens you know for me mentioned Elephant Man a few times we're going to see you back on Broadway at some point I hope so yeah I hope so yeah that' be amazing yeah I just saw Leslie odm Jr's uh play oh my yes oh my go yes yeah what did you love about that experience that's completely different from movies um I mean it's like I didn't know anything about theater till I moved to New York nothing I saw like cats and um nothing against cats but you know but I saw cats like at a dinner theater with my parents and like that's it I was movies that was it movies and TV and then I got to New York and the Labyrinth theater was there and Philip Zer Hoffman is doing Jesus H the A train and the upright szon Brigade is doing Ascot every Wednesday you know so it was like it was incredible time in the late 90s to be in New York for theater and um that's when I really got an education um and then uh I did like a play at the Henry Street settlement and then did three days of rain in 2006 which was utterly terrifying but I loved it I I love being on stage then did Williamstown twice and then we got to do the Elephant Man in New York and in London and uh I I I just love it and there's just nowhere to hide I mean it's just you know it's just it's the thing man it's like it's the real deal um and and and I try to bring that into a movie environment you know know that feeling that David or Russell created that like no it's now it's happening now and like the stakes are high and we don't have endless amounts of takes and this is it um I find that to be very fruitful as for an for me as an actor um Laura wants to know how do you prepare when you're both directing and acting in a project whether it's stars born or Maestro I I think the answer to that is that I was doing that even as an actor without knowing it that my brain just worked that way and I think that's why I was able to uh befriend or or work with so many directors that I'd work with as an actor because they saw that oh he's actually like I was aware of what they wanted so I would almost do it inherently and they're like oh you know that the lens is there and the thing and it's like what do you you know and we just started dialoging said yeah that's I love this process so much that that's what I'm also thinking about because I love it so I it all feels like the same thing to me it really really does it it's all it it it's all one thing I know that's not a great answer but but there is no difference but I think from a practical point of view to the Layman at least it's like how is he conceiving of the big picture and also being so dialed into his individual role is that a challenge to see both things to see the whole picture and just yours as Lenny I guess I don't see a difference between me as Lenny and me is seeing the big picture because I feel like I am Lenny seeing the big picture and thinking about the movie so so there's no difference between me and him once I'm in that mode so so so once I make that transition in the morning I'm I'm technically I guess you could say Lenny or the character uh Lenny um the whole day and and the whole day is I guess in some way a performance directing talking to the actors it's all Lenny doing it I'm not breaking out and going back into character um it's all one day of play for 10 hours and that was the same way on a stars born and even an American Sniper um so the whole day is kind of fun that way so when so it's cut and you're still Lenny with a cigarette in your hand and now you're directing yeah until we go back to Rolling yeah yeah there's no different there's no there's no shift at all wow yeah and it's older Lenny younger Lenny like drunk Jackson M peeing himself you know even then I was like am I this is too much I was like like so I want you to I'm not kidding Raph Raph gab Broner bler manager's like man what are you doing it's like this is crazy and I'm like I don't know man just go over here and clap I don't know I just again I was willing to just okay maybe they're going to laugh at me but I feel like this is this this feels like the way to explore it you make it sound easy but that's that's a lot right yeah um okay last one from James what was it like learning to conduct we haven't talked about the the big mer scene in the cathedral how much went into not just that scene but learning to conduct uh even more than I mean I had incredible teachers Yanik Sean and Gustavo dudl but mainly yanique and and Michael Tilson Thomas was wonderful and so many other great conductors I was able to work and observe throughout these years of preparation the New York philarmonic opened their doors to us completely I was able to go there through three or four times a week so I was able to really and and and and the Disney Hall also did we did film tests in Disney Hall during Co which was incredible um just to see if I didn't look like an SNL sketch honestly I was like cuz if this looks stupid then you know um and and it was just it the thing that I was more terrifi well I was terrified to just at least keep time is for the London Symphony Orchestra because they were going to do it well anyway but but because it's one shot and you see him and the orchest ra I needed to believe that I was conducting them and I needed them to feel like they believe that I was conducting them because we were doing it live it wasn't like there was a pre-recorded thing that they were playing to but more than that I just sort of got by on that enough to I but it was the joy of drawing out of musicians at least that I was believing it that I was drawing out of musicians the best of themselves to serve this incredible piece of music by this that I loved Gustaf mer and and because you watch him conduct and it's just m i find it mindblowing watching Lenny specifically that piece at elely Cathedral in 1973 which is on YouTube which I saw many years ago and I like we have to try to do this because if we can do this then eyes as an audience will understand why Felicia stayed to some degree because the man can stand in the center of the Sun not get burned and in fact ref diffuse the light onto us and it's just otherworldly and so I was terrified of being open enough to be to allow that joy to come through in his conducting so that was the thing that I worked so hard so I could just be loose enough for his joy to come through and for us to capture it on film that was the thing that was the most terrifying cuz I knew that they're the greatest musicians in the world right they got this yeah yeah and then as you said before that scene really was about Felicia right the whole scene's about Felicia it's about her seeing this thing that hopefully we've watched and then even though it's sucking the life out of her we do at least understand it and is the conducting learning the conducting because again that was part of this six years of preparation right to get to that six and a half seven minute scene what did you when did you know you were ready for that scene in other words like most of us don't know what never even on the day yeah the first day I messed it up so many times even for me I messed it up um I I it was one Leap of mass it was one leap of faith that was the only other time I made a leaf of faith during the day and then I asked for one more take and it it was very embarrassing you have these incredible you know 180 insane musicians just like this right yeah we don't need you at all this is all theater and and asking for one more take uh with a different setup and and and I said a prayer in front of everybody to Lenny and uh and then that was the take and I just just just be joyful just stop thinking and just go you've done work this is and if you fall and I remember even think like and if I fail okay I did the I I did the absolute best I could that I gave myself the freedom to fail and in because of that all I did was all I was was filled with joy and and it felt like I felt when I watch I'm like oh there's a commu they're communicating that guy in that Podium is communicating almost so much that when I what I love about watching live uh uh concert classical music is you feel like it's to me it starts to look like waves of Music the the the conductor's arms and the Boe it just also it starts to look like waves and that's what I felt like we achieved there was these W like a wave so the take we see in the movie is the one after the prayer to Lenny yeah it was just one take of that setup that was it we just we did shut a whole day and then the beginning of the day we did that was it it was one it was so hard such a hard move um yeah that was it we just did that one that was it it's a stunning it is a truly stunning piece oh thanks it [Applause] is all right we're going to we're going to release you into the wild I apologies for the following films that we didn't get to and we'll do it at our at our next session um let's see burnt burn tomorrow at two all right burnt yeah we'll back liquor Pizza we mentioned but didn't die nightmare alley come on guys right uh Guardians of the Galaxy yeah I mean the list goes on and on I got papers for days over here uh let me tell you how it's going to be there it is it was all building to that it was all building to that um thank you guys so much for coming and thank you thank you

Channel: SAG-AFTRA Foundation

Views: 52,318

Keywords: SAG Foundation, SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Acting, Actors, Q&A, Interview

Id: 9PjLlHp4oCE

Length: 75min 31sec (4531 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 12 2024