Bradley Cooper‘s pet project, the biographical drama Maestro, earned seven Oscar nominations on Tuesday morning, including Best Picture; Best Actor for its director, Cooper; and Best Actress for Carey Mulligan.
Cooper and Mulligan respectively play Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein in the Netflix film, which the streamer calls, “A love letter to life and art” and “an emotionally epic portrayal of family and love.”
In a statement obtained by ABC Audio, Cooper said, “We are all so grateful to be recognized alongside all of these incredible works of art this year.” He goes on to hail “the performances from every actor who I so admire.”
Now a 12-time Oscar nominee, Cooper was previously nominated for The Silver Linings Playbook and American Sniper, as well as for his directorial debut A Star Is Born, which was in the running for Best Picture in 2019.
In his statement, Cooper also thanked Bernstein’s children Jamie, Alex and Nina “for allowing their parents’ story to be out there in the world,” and naturally thanked the academy. “We are very honored to be included,” he concluded.
Mulligan, a previous Best Actress nominee for An Education and Promising Young Woman, added, “We poured so much love and joy into Maestro. I’m brimming with gratitude today and huge pride for the rest of the Maestro team!”
She added, “Thank you to Bradley for handing me this gift of a role and an experience. I fiddled with Felicia’s lighter all morning, keeping the point of all of this close to my heart.”
After expressing her gratitude to the Motion Picture Academy as well, Mulligan said, “[W]e are going to have the best time ever dressing up and paying tribute to this extraordinary couple.”
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