Oscar-nominated makeup genius Kazu Hiro comes full circle with Maestro | Hollywood

When Kazu Hiro began experimenting with makeup as a teenager in the 1980s, a face appeared to him in the books and magazines he saw in stores: the legendary conductor Leonard Bernstein. Four decades later, the two-time Oscar winner came full circle with Maestro, in which he transformed Bradley Cooper into a musical great. And the makeup artist has another Oscar in his sights. (Also Read: Maestro Review: Carey Mulligan Delivers the Performance of Her Career in Leonard Bernstein Biopic)

“Leonard Bernstein was a big inspiration when I was growing up,” Hiro said in an interview with AFP. “Every time I create a human face, I need a reference photograph. And at that time, there was no Internet,” explains the 54-year-old. “So I had to go to a bookstore.” And the face he saw time and time again was Bernstein’s. In the 1980s, the internationally renowned conductor had a busy concert schedule in addition to teaching and composing. Soon after, the Kyoto native saw Bernstein in a documentary on Japanese television.

Inspired by Leonard Bernstein

“I was really inspired by what he was talking about,” Hiro said. “I said to myself, you know, ‘One day I want to work on a movie about Leonard Bernstein.’” Then, in 2020, he got a call from Cooper, who directed, co-wrote and stars in Maestro, which offers an insight into Bernstein’s life. through the prism of his marriage to actress Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan). “It’s really an exciting project,” Hiro said. “Bradley and I love Leonard Bernstein so much.”

Kazu Hiro first perfected his craft in Japan, teaching himself how to alter the contours of a face through trial and error. He moved to the United States in the 1990s and eventually became one of Hollywood’s most sought-after makeup artists. Hiro has worked on dozens of films with A-list stars, including How the Grinch Stole Christmas, turning Jim Carrey into the beloved Dr. Seuss character, and Nutty Professor II: The Klumps with Eddie Murphy.

But after earning two Oscar nominations – for Norbit, again with Murphy, and Click with Adam Sandler – Hiro “retired” in 2012 and committed to devoting the next phase of his career to sculpture. However, Tinseltown quickly lured him back. He transformed Gary Oldman into Winston Churchill for Darkest Hour (2017), a feat which earned him his first Oscar. Two years later, he won another golden statuette for Bombshell, in which Charlize Theron transformed into television journalist Megyn Kelly.

Working with Bradley Cooper was a no-brainer, given his emotional connection to the subject.

A perfectionist

When Cooper and Hiro first met in 2020, they discussed how to bring Bernstein to life and effectively represent the nearly 50 years covered in the film. The makeup artist divided the film into five phases – from the need to rejuvenate Cooper, now 49, to his gradual aging.

Pre-production took longer than expected – largely due to the coronavirus pandemic, but also due to the complexity of the project. Transforming Cooper into a young Bernstein took two and a half hours. The middle scene lasted three hours, and the final scene required the actor to sit in the chair for about five hours “because he had to be covered from head to toe,” Hiro explained.

“We’re both pretty perfectionists,” Hiro said. “He conjured Leonard Bernstein from within.”

Difficult review

But this artistic prowess brought other challenges. When Netflix released the first trailer for the film last year, Cooper’s use of a large prosthetic nose drew heavy criticism, with some saying the depiction of the Jewish maestro reflected anti-Semitic tropes.

Bernstein’s children, Jamie, Alexander and Nina, came to the film’s defense, saying they were “completely OK” with the decision and adding: “It turns out that Leonard Bernstein had a nice, big nose.”

Hiro admits it was a “difficult” moment. “I was really confused about it,” the artist said. “It took me a while to (digest it). We had so much respect for Leonard Bernstein. And he happened to have this nose. Beyond the social media furor, many people who had known Bernstein told Hiro that his countless hours of analyzing news stories had paid off: that Cooper looked “just like Lenny.”

“It kind of proves that our goal was achieved,” he said, a fact that seems confirmed by Hiro’s Oscar nomination, his fifth. The artist and her team are the favorites to win the makeup and hairstyling prize at the Oscars gala on March 10, ahead of the teams from Poor Things, Oppenheimer, The Society of the Snow and Golda.

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