As I’m sure you know, Bradley is known for his acting performances in films like The Hangover and Silver Linings Playbook. But in recent years, he’s been making his mark as a director, too.
In case you’ve not seen it yet, Maestro tells the real life story of conductor Leonard Bernstein and his wife, Felicia Montealegre, played by Bradley and Carey Mulligan.
In recent months, Bradley has talked at length about what it was like to star in and direct the film, revealing during a conversation with Spike Lee for Variety that he directed the large majority while speaking in Leonard’s voice.
He also said that there’s “no video village,” which is a term used to describe the area on set where the director’s monitors are, because he doesn’t watch playback.
At the time, Bradley’s revelation was met with intense backlash from people who felt that having no chairs on set was “harsh” and even ableist.
And now, with the Oscars right around the corner, it seems Bradley is poking fun at his directorial preferences in spite of the public response.
During a panel on Friday with the producers of the 2024 Best Picture nominees, the American Sniper star reflected on the process of getting Maestro off the ground and joked that the “biggest challenge by far was the fucking director.”
Despite bagging nominations for Best Picture and Best Actor, Bradley was not nominated for Best Director. When asked about the snub last month, he told Deadline that he was grateful to have been recognized at all.
As you may know, Bradley also missed out on a Best Director nomination for A Star Is Born at the 2019 Oscars, too — a fact which he previously said made him feel “embarrassed.”