Bradley Cooper Reveals Bonkers Moment Steven Spielberg Hired Him To Direct 'Maestro'

Bradley Cooper thought Steven Spielberg was walking out on a private screening of “A Star Is Born” but the filmmaking legend surprised him with a job offer instead. (Watch the video below.)

Cooper, currently starring in “Nightmare Alley” and “Licorice Pizza,” told the funny story Tuesday on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert .”

Spielberg got wind of Cooper’s childhood obsession with symphony conducting, Cooper said, and reached out to him to read a script for “Maestro” about Leonard Bernstein. Spielberg was thinking about directing the movie and wanted Cooper to play the famous composer.

But Cooper, fresh off directing and starring in “A Star Is Born,” wanted to direct and play the lead in “Maestro.” So to prove his chops, he showed Spielberg a cut of “A Star Is Born” while he was refining the color.

During a critical scene, however, Spielberg got up and appeared to head to the bathroom, putting Cooper in an emotional tailspin. “I was like, ‘That’s it, it’s over,’” he recalled to Colbert.

Spielberg instead walked over to the crestfallen Cooper and placed his face right next to Cooper’s ear. “And he says, cause it’s loud, ‘You’re fucking directing Maestro.’ And then he sat back down. And it was amazing.”

The biopic will be headed to Netflix after its completion.