March 16, 2022
Matt Bomer to Star as Gay Lover in Bernstein Biopic, Opposite Bradley Cooper
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 1 MIN.
Talk about dream casting: According to Variety, out actor Matt Bomer has been tapped to play a gay lover of Leonard Bernstein, with Bradley Cooper set to play the famed composer.
The article teased that "Bomer's character is a clarinet player with whom Bernstein had a brief relationship."
The film, titled "Maestro," is set to begin production in May.
"Cooper also co-wrote the screenplay and directs, making it his follow-up to the Oscar-winning 'A Star Is Born,'" Variety detailed.
The legendary composer lived at a time when same-sex partnerships were not recognized and sexual relations between people of the same gender were criminalized, which made for a complex personal life. As Variety recounted, "Bernstein, who died in 1990 at age 72, was married to artist Felicia Montealegre and they had three children together. However, it was revealed after Bernstein's death that his wife acknowledged that he was gay and had sexual relationships with men."
The article also recalled that Bernstein, who "never publicly confirmed he was gay," left the marriage "for a male radio station manager in 1976 but returned to the marriage the next year to care for his wife after she was diagnosed with lung cancer."
"Carey Mulligan is set to portray Montealegre," the article added.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
