Interstellar was nothing short of a masterpiece. From the storyline to visual effects, storytelling, and acting coupled with moving musical scores, it has been and continues to be praised for its contribution to the science fiction genre and cinema as a whole. A filmmaking masterpiece by Christopher Nolan, it featured some of the best performances of the cast’s career.
One scene in particular featuring Matthew McConaughey was so emotionally riveting that Nolan calls it the ‘north star’ of the entire movie. However, the scene also featured a small performance by the then-young actor, Timothee Chalamet, who was robbed of all credit as his shot was edited out.
One Interstellar Scene That Snubbed Timothee Chalamet Of All Credit
Interstellar is not just a science fiction film, it is deeply rooted in themes of love, sacrifice, time, and resilience of human nature. While it delves deep into complex scientific concepts of relativity, black holes, and higher dimensions, at the same time, it studies human nature in a manner unlike ever seen before.
One scene that was the embodiment of all such elements is also the scene that ended up taking all the credit away from Timothee Chalamet, who at that time was only a beginner in the film industry. It features Matthew McConaughey‘s character Cooper watching videos of his children left behind on Earth. The videos are from different years as his children are aging faster than he is due to the difference in time between Earth and Space.
Chalamet, who plays the young version of Cooper’s son, was heartbroken to find his part cut from the film since the scene focused on McConaughey’s reaction, as he stated while on Variety’s Actors on Actors.
“I saw it, and I loved it, but I went home to my dad and wept for an hour because I just figured my part was bigger. They didn’t even cut anything. I just figured — I don’t know what I figured.”
While he maintained he had no hard feelings towards the actor or the director, Chalamet explains that since he was too young, the disappointment was intense.
Christopher Nolan States That One Scene Was The North Star Of Interstellar
It is no secret that the videotape scene has been hailed as the most emotional one in the entire movie. So, while talking to The Atlantic about his Academy Award-nominated movie Interstellar, Christopher Nolan was inevitably asked about how the scene was filmed, and he revealed,
“As a parent, it seemed like such a powerful story moment. It was always the north star of the film, this beautiful sequence—and some of the actual words in the script, the specifics of what was said in the messages, never changed. We filmed McConaughey’s reaction first, in close-up… But he hadn’t seen the video messages—we’d filmed them all in advance, so that everything would be there in the moment—and he wanted to give us his first reaction.”
Just as Nolan states, the scene is truly the north star of Interstellar, combining all of the movie’s varied themes while containing the most profound emotional message a sci-fi film can deliver.
Interstellar can be streamed on Amazon Prime.
