The kids of the renowned conductor welcomed filmmakers into their parents’ house in Fairfield, Connecticut, for a biopic.
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The offspring of conductor Leonard Bernstein and actor Felicia Montealegre Bernstein graciously welcomed Bradley Cooper’s film crew into their family home in Fairfield, Connecticut, for the production of “Maestro.” Despite the intimate portrayal of their parents in the movie, Jamie, Nina, and Alexander Bernstein, who inherited the house from Leonard after his passing in 1990, granted permission for filming at the residence their parents acquired in 1962.
Jamie expressed the challenges of having a movie shot in their house, acknowledging the disruption it can cause. Despite a past experience with a film in her New York apartment, Jamie, along with her siblings, decided to trust Bradley Cooper and his team to film “Maestro” in their Fairfield home. She emphasized the importance of trust in the entire project, creating a warm and safe environment for everyone involved.
Even though Jamie and her siblings were not present during the filming, friends responsible for looking after the house described the preparation process as if the filmmakers had “picked the house up and taken it upside down and shaken it.” However, by the conclusion of filming, everything was returned to its original place.
Kevin Thompson, the production designer responsible for creating the film’s visual style, played a significant role in showcasing the characters’ preferences in their home for “Maestro.” Exploring the actual house helped him better understand the characters. Since the home hadn’t undergone many changes, they could observe the various additions Felicia, one of the characters, had made. This encompassed family photos, wall paintings, and even the contents of the junk drawer. Thompson discovered traces of the family throughout, contributing an authentic touch to the movie.
Despite having access to the actual property, Thompson faced the challenge of adapting the space for different time periods in “Maestro.” Covering the early ’60s to the late ’80s, he carefully considered how the setting would naturally evolve over time. While he used family photos as a reference for the changing decor, his priority was capturing the right style through his furniture choices, rather than replicating specific pieces from the photographs.
Felicia Bernstein took charge of decorating the homes for the Bernstein family. While she collaborated with an interior decorator in New York, she personally decorated their Fairfield home. During Bradley Cooper and Kevin Thompson’s first visit to the house, they sensed a deep connection to the Bernsteins’ laid-back and comfortable country life. Felicia, not only a decorator but also an artist, left her mark on the film with her paintings from the time spent in Fairfield.
Jamie reflects on her mother’s influence on the Fairfield home, expressing, “There’s so much of our mother’s personality in the spaces that she decorated. One thing you can sense about her is that she wasn’t pretentious; she wasn’t trying to impress anyone. She just had her own sense of who she was and her style, and you can feel that in the spaces she created.” The set design successfully captures this essence, seamlessly transitioning through time periods and showcasing how naturally the family moved through the space.
Jamie shared the Bernsteins’ feelings about their home appearing in the movie “Maestro.” She mentioned, “The home was amazingly well captured and looks fantastic.” Jamie noted they had good weather during filming and shared a fun fact about her dad, Leonard Bernstein, having good luck with the weather at outdoor concerts, nicknamed ‘Lenny Weather.’ She playfully suggested that Bradley Cooper had ‘Lenny Weather’ too during the movie production.