Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan, who are nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress for their roles as composer Leonard Bernstein and his wife Felicia in Maestro, have made their way down the red carpet.

Cooper, who also directed the film, said the music “is the actual guiding light of the whole film because it’s scored to [Bernstein’s] music”.

He also paid tribute to Mulligan, saying: “It was always joyful, every time I got excited to do a scene with her. It was just effortless.”

On bringing the relatively unknown Felicia to life, Mulligan said it “wouldn’t have been possible” without the help of the Bernstein family, and said: “I felt like they couldn’t have been more generous”.

Cooper learned to compose for the film and described it as “incredible” and an “experience of a lifetime” working with the London Symphony Orchestra on it.