“The Maestro” and the Fake Nose Hall of Fame

On August 1st trailer for “Maestro,” a biopic of Leonard Bernstein, author of “West Side Story” and much more, sparked backlash almost immediately: Bradley Cooper wore a prosthetic nose for the lead role.

Critics on social media He accused the star, who is also the director, of playing into an anti-Semitic trope with an XL prosthetic – and asked if a Jewish person would be more sensitive about makeup choices

Cooper and Netflix, where “Maestro” will begin streaming on Wednesday, declined to comment. In a statement issued at the time, Bernstein’s three children, who were working with Cooper on the film, defended the actor, noting that he… Series of posts on X, “Leonard Bernstein happens to have a big, beautiful nose.” (The family declined to provide additional comment.)

It’s not the first time an oversized barrier has appeared on screen or sparked controversy. Here are 12 of the most memorable fake noses in cinema history, ranked by size from elegant 🥸 to elephantine 🥸🥸🥸🥸🥸.

Like the poet and fencer Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac, Orson Welles was obsessed with his nose. (he He thought he was too young; That was, of course, perfectly normal.) But instead of channeling his obsession toward a healthy endeavor—helping another man win the affections of his lover, for example—he donned dozens of fakes over the course of his career. One of the biggest was the feisty nostrils he donned as corrupt police captain Hank Quinlan in the 1958 murder mystery film Touch of Evil.

Nicole Kidman “The Hours” 🥸

Nicole Kidman may have given a sensational performance as Virginia Woolf in The Hours (2002), but Denzel Washington joked that it was the prosthetic beak she wore that won her the Academy Award for Best Actress. (“The Oscar goes to Nicole Kidman by the nose,” he said she joked when announcing her win.) Kidman wore a new one every day during filming, although she told the Associated Press that she stuck to a silver one she got when she was wrapped for filming.

Is this thing even effective? Probably not; Snakes have no noses—only nostrils—and they smell with their forked tongues. We wouldn’t be surprised if JK Rowling’s creepy villain in the 2011 franchise finale has one of these too. But at least we may finally have an answer as to what Voldemort’s abnormally long fingers were for: nose picking.

Meryl Streep “Iron Lady” 🥸

Like Kidman, Meryl Streep installed the prosthetic nose she wore to play British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in director Phyllida Lloyd’s 2011 biopic, winning her an Academy Award (her third). But this time, the genius of the transformation was its subtlety. When the first photos of Streep on set were published, the press caught a glimpse of her nose.

Laurence Olivier, “Richard III” 🥸🥸

Unlike Welles, Laurence Olivier did not make a habit of wearing a fake nose in his roles due to his insecurities about the size of his nose; Instead, it was just one of a range of theatrical accessories, including masks and wigs, that he and several other actors used to transform into different characters. In Richard III (1955), which Olivier also directed, his character’s nose was, as one blogger put it, “Majesticly prominent“.

Rudolph, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” 🥸🥸

With Santa’s elves’ workshop nearby in this 1964 special, the best thing Rudolph’s father, Donner, could do to help his son cope in school was to make a fake nose out of clay? He won’t win any Father of the Year awards for this effort.

Margaret Hamilton “The Wizard of Oz” 🥸🥸🥸

Margaret Hamilton had some of the goods for playing the Wicked Witch of the West naturally: She was known for her large nose, which her father encouraged her to surgically alter. But she got the last laugh when she landed the role of the famous villain in The Wizard of Oz (1939) — which made her nose longer (and greener).

Matt Damon, “Ocean’s Thirteenth” 🥸🥸🥸

There are definitely artists with bigger noses on this list, but Matt Damon may be the only one who has planned a prank around him. In this 2007 sequel, his character, Linus, wears a prosthetic – Which Damon called “Brody.” A reference to actor Adrien Brody’s well, you know – trying to hide himself and access a box full of diamonds.

Steve Carell, Foxcatcher 🥸🥸🥸

Steve Carell’s beefed-up story in the 2014 true crime story may have left some people off Scratching their heads – The real-life version of his character, John du Pont, a millionaire wrestling enthusiast turned assassin, was not well known, so the attention to detail seemed excessive. But the nose served another purpose: it made viewers forget they were staring at Carell, who was known primarily for comedy at the time.

Alec Guinness “Oliver Twist” 🥸🥸🥸🥸

Charles Dickens wrote Fagin in Oliver Twist as a thoroughly anti-Semitic villain, and in the 1948 film adaptation, Alec Guinness, the non-Jewish actor who played the character, spoke with a bird’s lisp and appeared with hooded eyes and a huge prosthetic hook. nose. The nose was considered “incredibly insensitive” As the Jewish Chronicle wrote:It sparked great anger among Holocaust survivors.

Billy Crystal “The Princess Bride” 🥸🥸🥸🥸

Billy Crystal was so funny in The Princess Bride (1987) that director Rob Reiner claimed he had to leave the set during Crystal’s scenes as Miracle Max because he couldn’t contain his laughter. The addition of a bulbous tomato for the nose brought Crystal’s physical comedy over the top. (Mandy Patinkin, who played Inigo Montoya, actually He bruised one of his ribs as he tried to stifle his chuckles.)

Steve Martin, “Roxanne” 🥸🥸🥸🥸🥸

You can land a bird on this thing (which is what director Fred Schepisi did). Steve Martin’s five-inch extension for the 1987 movie took 90 minutes to apply each day and two minutes to remove. “Oh my God, I hated that thing,” he told The Washington Post.