In August, the first Trailer for “Maestro,” a biopic of Leonard Bernstein, the composer of “West Side Story” and more, caused an almost immediate backlash: Bradley Cooper wore a prosthetic nose for the title role.
Critics on social media The star-turned-director accused her of playing into an antisemitic trope with a size XL prosthesis — and asked if someone who is Jewish is more sensitive about makeup choices.
Cooper and Netflix, which begins streaming “Maestro” on Wednesday, declined to comment. In a statement at the time, Bernstein’s three children, who worked on the film with Cooper, came to the actor’s defense. A series of posts on X, “It’s true that Leonard Bernstein had a nice big nose.” (The family declined to provide additional comment.)
This isn’t the first time an enlarged septum has appeared on screen or caused controversy. Here are the 12 most memorable fake noses in cinema history, ranked from dainty 🥸 to elephantine 🥸🥸🥸🥸🥸.
Orson Welles, ‘Touch of Evil’ 🥸
Orson Welles was obsessed with his nose, as was Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond Rostand’s poet and swordsman. (He He believed he was too young; (That, of course, is perfectly normal.) But instead of changing his position to the wholesome purpose of helping another man win the affections of his own beloved, he played dozens of fakes in his life. One of the worst nostrils was the one he wore as corrupt police captain Hank Quinlan in the 1958 murder mystery “Touch of Evil.”
Nicole Kidman, ‘The Hours’ 🥸
Nicole Kidman may have given a sensational performance as Virginia Woolf in “The Hours” (2002), but Denzel Washington joked that the prosthetic beak she wore won her the Academy Award for Best Actress. (“The Oscar goes to Nicole Kidman,” he said He joked while announcing the victory.) Kidman wore a new outfit every day on set, though she told The Associated Press that she was hanging on to a silver one given to her when shooting was over.
Ralph Fiennes, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’ 🥸
Does that thing even work? Probably not; Snakes have no noses – only nostrils – and smell with their forked tongues. In this 2011 franchise final, J.K. We wouldn’t be surprised if Rowling’s reptilian Baddie has one of those, too. But at least we have an answer to what Voldemort’s unnaturally long fingers are good for: picking noses.
Meryl Streep, ‘The Iron Lady’ 🥸
Like Kidman, Meryl Streep won an Oscar (her third) riding the prosthetic nose she wore for her portrayal of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 2011 biopic of Phyllida Lloyd. But this time, the genius of the change was in its subtlety – when the first photos of Streep on set were published, the press peered up their noses.
Laurence Olivier, ‘Richard III’ 🥸🥸
Unlike Welles, Laurence Olivier did not wear a fake nose for his roles. Instead, it was one of a set of theatrical props, including masks and wigs, that he and several other actors transformed into various characters. In Oliver’s “Richard III” (1955), his character’s nose was, as one blogger put it, “Sublimely important.”
Rudolph, ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ 🥸🥸
With Santa’s elves’ workshop nearby in this 1964 special, Rudolph’s best dad, Donner, makes a fake nose out of mud to help his son fit in at school? He won’t receive any Father of the Year awards for that effort.
Margaret Hamilton, ‘The Wizard of Oz’ 🥸🥸🥸
Margaret Hamilton naturally came with some material to play the Wicked Witch of the West: she was known for her large nose, and her own father encouraged her to have it surgically altered. But he got the last laugh when he landed the now-famous villain role in “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) — his nose even longer (and greener) for it.
Matt Damon, ‘Ocean’s Thirteen’ 🥸🥸🥸
Sure, there are artists with big noses on this list, but Matt Damon is the only one who planned a mess around him. In this 2007 sequel, his character Linus wears prosthetics – Damon was nicknamed “The Brady”. In a nod to actor Adrien Brody’s well, you know — disguised himself in an attempt to gain access to a case full of diamonds.
Steve Carell, ‘Foxcatcher’ 🥸🥸🥸
Steve Carell’s souped-up schnoz may have left some in this 2014 true-crime story. Scratching their heads – The real-life version of his character, John du Pont, the millionaire wrestler-turned-murderer, was not well-known, so the attention to detail was greater. But the nose served another purpose: making viewers forget they were watching Carell, who at the time was known mainly for comedy.
Alec Guinness, ‘Oliver Twist’ 🥸🥸🥸🥸
Charles Dickens wrote Fagin as a thoroughly anti-Semitic villain in “Oliver Twist,” and in the 1948 film adaptation, Alec Guinness, the non-Jewish actor who played the character, spoke in a husky lisp and appeared with hooded eyes and a large prosthetic hook. the nose The nose was considered “incredibly insensitive”. As the Jewish Chronicle wroteAnd it provoked significant anger from Holocaust survivors.
Billy Crystal, ‘The Princess Bride’ 🥸🥸🥸🥸
Billy Crystal was already so funny in “The Princess Bride” (1987) that director Rob Reiner said he had to leave the set because he couldn’t hold back his laughter as Miracle Max during Crystal’s scenes. Adding a nosebleed tomato took Crystal’s physical humor over the top. (Inigo Mantoya was actually played by Mandy Pattinkin His ribs hurt trying to stifle his own laughter.)
Steve Martin, ‘Roxanne’ 🥸🥸🥸🥸🥸
In that case you could land a bird (the director, Fred Schepsi, did.) The five-inch attachment for Steve Martin’s 1987 film took 90 minutes to apply each day and two minutes to remove. “God how I hated it,” he told The Washington Post.
