Carey Mulligan joins Bradley Cooper’s Maestro as Felicia Bernstein

Reports have come in that Carey Mulligan is joining the cast of Bradley Cooper's upcoming Netflix feature MAESTRO. Carey has been cast as Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein, wife of the legendary composer/conductor, Leonard Berstein, upon who the film is based. In addition to having a starring role in the project, Cooper co-wrote the screenplay with Oscar-winning SPOTLIGHT writer Josh Stinger. The project has been a labor of love for Cooper who's been working side-by-side with the Bernstein family for three years to assure the film's authenticity and respect toward its subject.

As per the project's description, MAESTRO will revolve around the complex love story of Leonard and Felicia, a relationship that spans over 30 years – from the time they met in 1946 at a party and continuing through two engagements, a 25-year marriage, and three children: Jamie Bernstein, Alexander Bernstein, and Nina Bernstein Simmons.

Needless to say, the Berstein children were pretty psyched when they heard about Mulligan playing their beloved mom. “We’re absolutely thrilled that Carey Mulligan will play our mother in Maestro,” said Jamie Bernstein. “Carey will surely capture Felicia’s unique combination of wit, warmth, elegant beauty, and depth of emotion. We also love the way Carey conveys a kind of storybook European grace, which was something our mother embodied as well.”

“I was struck by Carey ever since I saw her on stage many years ago and I haven’t missed a performance of hers since,” said Cooper. “I am humbled to be working with such a mammoth talent, as well as such a kind person in Carey.”

Leonard Bernstein was an American composer, conductor, pianist, music educator, author, and lifelong humanitarian. He's responsible for some of the most iconic orchestral arrangements ever performed including the score for the timeless Broadway musical West Side Story. He's also known to many through three notable symphonies, Chichester Psalms, Serenade after Plato's "Symposium", the original score for On the Waterfront, and much more.

MAESTRO is slated to be Cooper's next directorial effort after helming A STAR IS BORN, a film that earned the filmmaker much acclaim for his skills behind the camera.