Bradley Cooper Cries Over Missing Leonard Bernstein, A Man He Never Met, In Front Of Leonard's Kids

Say what you will about TikTok, but, sometimes, it comes through in a big way.

Back in December, Bradley Cooper sat down for an interview with CBS Sunday Morning to plug his Leonard Bernstein biopic, Maestro. Bradley was accompanied by Leonard’s three kids, Jamie, Alexander, and Nina Bernstein.

At one point in their chat, Jamie asks Bradley if he misses her father. Reminder: Leonard Bernstein died in 1990, when Bradley was a 15-year-old high school student in the Philadelphia suburbs. Unsurprisingly, the two never met. But that didn’t stop Bradley from answering Jamie’s question with, “Oh yeah, man…”, and then tearing up. Yep, Bradley Cooper cried about missing Leonard Bernstein in front of Leonard’s actual children. Who, presumably, actually knew their father.

Interviewer Mo Rocca asks Bradley what he misses about Leonard. Bradley bravely fights back the tears, takes a deep breath, and gives us this unbelievably cringey answer:

It’s hard to talk about … I dunno. We shared something really special. The four of us. It’s hard to even articulate. But he was with us - he was with me, certainly, throughout the entire time. His energy has somehow found his way to me that I really do feel like I know him.

Jesus Christ. The four of us? Does Bradley see himself as one of Leonard’s offspring? Also, was the spirit of Leonard Bernstein with him during production, or was Bradley just high on his own ego/that ridiculous fake schnoz? It’s as if Bradley is playing the part of an insufferable A-list method actor. Like, does he not pick up on how ridiculous he sounds? I guess when you’re surrounded by Hollywood sycophants, it’s easy for artistes like Bradley to buy into the pretentious bullshit.

Here’s the clip:

You may be asking, why are we only talking about this now? The CBS Sunday Morning piece aired over two months ago. Well, that’s where TikTok comes in. Over the weekend, the account Movie Maniacs posted the crying part of the interview. The caption read: “Bradley Cooper cries in front of Leonard Bernstein’s kids over how he misses their dad. Bradley Cooper never met him.”

The TikTok went viral and most of the comments eviscerated Bradley. Here are some of my faves:

Just so everyone understands, Leonard Bernstein died in 1990
Bradley Cooper is an idiot even his kids didn’t get that emotional
Bradley Cooper is getting f’n weird.
Austin Butler and his Elvis voice. Bradley and this weirdo shit. These actors and their god complexes

But not all the comments were negative. Others defended the thespian-to-composer connection. One person wrote, “He literally studied the man for 3 years. Practiced his role day in and day out. No doubt it’s become a part of him.”

Hopefully that last commenter is an Oscar voter. Bradley’s going to need all the help he can get in the Best Actor race.