Emmy winner Jeremy Strong is being eyed to play writer John Gruenn in Netflix's Maestro, a biopic on music composer Leonard Bernstein, fronted by Bradley Cooper.
The development comes days after Aaron Sorkin's historical legal drama The Trial of the Chicago 7, in which Strong starred as Jerry Rubin, Leader of the Youth International Party (Yippies), was released on the streaming platform. Last month, Strong won the Emmy for outstanding actor in a drama series for his portrayal of Kendall Roy in HBO's critically-acclaimed Succession.
In addition to playing the lead, Cooper will also direct and produce Maestro. The film will chronicle 30 years in the life of Bernstein, who rose to fame after he was tasked with conducting the New York Philharmonic when he was 25. His career skyrocketed when he wrote and composed the music for the iconic film, West Side Story.
Maestro is being described as a "beautifully complex story of the marriage" between Bernstein and his wife, Felicia Montealegre, to be played by Carey Mulligan. Cooper has penned the film's script in collaboration with Josh Singer, the Academy Award-winning writer of Spotlight.
The project will be produced by veteran filmmakers Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese, in addition to Cooper, Todd Philips, Fred Berner, Amy Durning, and Kristie Macosko Krieger.