# Bradley Cooper accused of “Jewface” **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [August 17, 2023, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729 "2023-08-17T16:15:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/41 "2023-08-17T21:07:41Z")
I never get mistaken for Jewish. I have had a full beard like I lived in a shtetl but people then people think I’m a biker. Unless I wear a suit and then suddenly people are very polite to me but they nobody said anything about me being Jewish. Once people think I’m Jewish for some other reason I’ll get comments about they thought so but weren’t sure. Then I’ll tell them I’m not Jewish which bewilders everybody. I know several Italians who people said looked Jewish, and some who think they may have Jewish ancestors who converted. Anyhoo… about the Bradley “the Jew” Cooper, I think makeup would have been sufficient to improve his resemblance to Bernstein. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/42 "2023-08-17T21:16:24Z")
In those days, _Charlton Heston_ was Mexican-looking enough for Hollywood. (and Jewish-looking enough, for that matter…) ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/43 "2023-08-17T21:42:48Z")
Or the now very old joke from South Park, 34-Year-Old Asian Man Who Looks Strikingly Similar to Ricardo Montalbán. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/44 "2023-08-17T21:55:51Z")
I’m thinking this is less about the nose and more about casting a non-Jewish actor in the role. These past few years there have been complaints regarding the ethnicity/race/sexual identity/etc., etc. of the actor versus the character. There were complaints that Ruby Rose wasn’t “gay enough” to play Batwoman on television, criticism of Helen Mirren playing Golda Meir, and the question of whether trans characters must be played by trans actors. But it’s not a new problem, there were complaints about casting British actress Vivian Leigh as Scarlett O’Hare, but Southerns were just happy she wasn’t a Yankee. To what degree should an actor be similar to the character they’re playing? Edit: I’m not really sure. I’m comfortable saying Julia Roberts shouldn’t be cast as Harriet Tubman, but I’m not sure where to draw the line. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/45 "2023-08-17T22:29:07Z")
Here’s an article on fakes noses in movie performances. Portrayals of real people by actors using fake noses include Steve Carell in _Foxcatcher_, Will Smith in _Ali_, Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in _The Iron Lady_, Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf in _The Hours_ and Anthony Hopkins in _Nixon_. > **[15 Best Performances by Fake Noses on Film](https://www.vulture.com/2014/11/15-best-fake-noses-movies-performances.html)** > > Some truly giant, but great, nasal transformations. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/46 "2023-08-17T22:34:49Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > It probably helped that Gandalf wasn’t, as far as we know, a Red Sea pedestrian. No, in Middle-earth they gave that role to the dwarves. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/47 "2023-08-17T22:54:40Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Bernstein’s nose looked bigger as he got older. It probably was bigger, most peoples’ noses, especially the fleshy part, grow as they age. I wonder if that isn’t the nose that his children are remembering. The problem with Cooper’s prosthetic is made worse by his big chin. Bernstein had a nice regular-sized chin, Cooper’s is much bigger and projects much further from his lower lip (assuming that is his natural chin). Somehow, the combination of that nose and that chin seems to make up a face that is a caricature of a stereotype. Stereotypes can hurt, even if they are not intentional. And he could certainly “be” Jewish with his regular nose. So best case for me is that it is a poor choice on someone’s part. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/48 "2023-08-17T23:00:01Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > How many people hear “Leonard Bernstein” and immediately picture the guy, especially with an accurately proportioned schnoz? He’s famous,\* but he’s not a visual icon. Maybe it’s because of my age, but I _certainly_ do. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/49 "2023-08-17T23:05:11Z")
Leonard Bernstein’s nose got much larger and more prominent at he aged. Most of us who remember him, remember him as he was later in his life, because that’s when he was prominent in our lifetimes. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Leonard_Bernstein_by_Jack_Mitchell.jpg/220px-Leonard_Bernstein_by_Jack_Mitchell.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Leonard_Bernstein_by_Jack_Mitchell.jpg/220px-Leonard_Bernstein_by_Jack_Mitchell.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/50 "2023-08-17T23:20:04Z")
And then there are the tap dancing noses from Shostakovich’s opera The Nose, based on Gogol’s story. [https://youtu.be/YotMwwixPsw](https://youtu.be/YotMwwixPsw) Saw this in Berlin and it was wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/51 "2023-08-17T23:37:56Z")
!! I love that story! I read it in _A Swim in a Pond in the Rain_, a study of Russian short stories by George Saunders. I love weird stuff like that. (And how hard would it be to tap-dance in a nose costume? Wonderful.) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/52 "2023-08-18T00:03:02Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > Saw this in Berlin and it was wonderful. I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult it would be to tap dance in one of those things. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/53 "2023-08-18T00:33:23Z")
And in the Berlin version, the “head nose” did a longer solo and was a young woman, 15, I think. It was nothing to sneeze at! Sorry for the hijack ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/54 "2023-08-18T00:44:01Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I’m thinking this is less about the nose and more about casting a non-Jewish actor in the role. That argument is a total non-starter, seeing as how Cooper co-wrote, produced and directed the movie. To think otherwise is to make Art impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/55 "2023-08-18T01:18:05Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > That argument is a total non-starter, seeing as how Cooper co-wrote, produced and directed the movie. To think otherwise is to make Art impossible. I would agree, but I’ve seen this argument used with increasing frequency in recent years. It’s the reason Dr. Hibbert’s voice on The Simpsons is weird now. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/56 "2023-08-18T01:22:24Z")
Questionable wording in today’s _Jewish Journal_: > I know from reliable sources that Cooper does not have an antisemitic bone in his body. ---
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/57 "2023-08-18T01:25:13Z")
Nicholson’s nose in “Hoffa” [ae60918ccb70a3bbd19736d8a11a8317.png (1280×720) (pinimg.com)](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ae/60/91/ae60918ccb70a3bbd19736d8a11a8317.png) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/58 "2023-08-18T02:31:12Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > !! I love that story! (Have you seen [the new family-musical version of The Nose by Kit Goldstein-Grant?](https://www.thenosemusical.com) Very funny!) [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/59 "2023-08-18T10:06:47Z")
It definitely seems to be a thing for people to overreacting to unimportant shit in movies now. From nonsense such as actors can’t play anyone but themselves leading to the basic advocation that only straight people can play straight people (because only gay people should play gay people). It leads to the ludicrous position that only the person themselves, or direct descendents can be in biopics which will also lead to some very bad acting roles. The usual internet shit about being bored, and while never dealing with real issues, making a whole bunch of pointless shit to be mad at. For instance, I have quite a large nose by any standards. Does that mean I can play a jewish person who had a large nose? I’m not jewish though, and can’t act, but somehow that doesn’t seem to matter much anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/60 "2023-08-18T14:39:24Z")
Mr. **Smid** , Warner Bros. on Line 3. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729.md?page=4)