When director Christopher Nolan was conceptualizing his epic sci-fi drama Interstellar, he knew the film’s soaring orchestral score would be crucial for conveying the story’s grand themes and emotional core. So he devised an unorthodox way of kickstarting the creative process with iconic composer Hans Zimmer, his longtime collaborator. It involved an extremely tight deadline and very little initial information.
Was Hans Zimmer Hesitant About Christopher Nolan’s Bold Request?
Christopher Nolan revealed he called up Hans Zimmer before even fleshing out the full Interstellar story.
He told the stunned composer,
“I’m going to bring you an envelope with a letter in it, on a piece of paper, that’s going to tell you the underlying fable at the heart of the film…You get one day, just write something and you have to give it to me end of the day.”
Christopher Nolan explains how he helped Hans Zimmer create the soundtrack for Interstellar:
“I called Hans before I even knew I was going to do this project and I told him, ‘I’m going to bring you an envelope with a letter in it, on a piece of paper, that’s going to tell you… pic.twitter.com/9358qVw4AS
— Christopher Nolan Art & Updates (@NolanAnalyst) February 17, 2024
Initially, Zimmer was quite hesitant about scoring a film he knew almost nothing about and under immense time constraints. According to a Collider report from 2021, Zimmer looked back on his disbelief at Nolan’s ask:
“Do you know how we started that? I have this idea. If I were to send you a letter with a story … it’s about a movie, but I’m not going to tell you what the movie’s about, nor will the story in the letter tell you what the movie is about … will you give me one day and write whatever comes to you?'”
Upon playing his fragile, emotional piece for Nolan, Zimmer recalls thinking,
“You’re talking about this thing of epic proportions, and I’ve given you this tiny, tiny little fragile thing.”
Zimmer agreed, though he remained skeptical about how this vague letter regarding a father-son relationship would relate to the grand sci-fi concepts Nolan later revealed.
How Did Christopher Nolan’s Unusual Method Benefit the Interstellar Score?
Though unorthodox, Nolan’s approach proved ingenious. By having Zimmer compose something emotional and human before the sci-fi spectacle took shape, it ensured the film stayed grounded in sincere relatable feelings.
As Nolan told Zimmer, “Now I know where the heart of the story is.”
He understood Zimmer’s simple, honest composition captured the core essence, which they could build upon into an epic, technology-laced soundtrack. The soul was there as a foundation.
So, while Zimmer’s first piece may have seemed underwhelmingly small in scale, it gave Nolan invaluable direction. It guided him in keeping characters and connections at the forefront, with the dwarf spaceships and exploding planets enhancing, not drowning the human stories.
Composer Hans Zimmer intentionally delayed releasing the Interstellar soundtrack album for two weeks after the film’s premiere. He wanted audiences to first experience his meticulously crafted score on theater speaker systems for maximum visceral impact. He felt the score’s nuances might be lost on smaller devices, justifying postponing the soundtrack’s availability so fans could fully absorb its grandiosity.
Interstellar is available to stream on Prime Videos and Paramount+
