Hans Zimmer can't hide behind the screen anymore
The renowned film composer talks about overcoming stage fright, plus his love for director Denis Villeneuve
One day, two of Hans Zimmer's best friends, Johnny Marr and Pharrell Williams, sat him down on the plush red couch in his studio, just a little too close for comfort. They wanted to have a serious talk.
"[They] are really my best friends," the Oscar-winning film composer tells Q's Tom Power in a recent interview over Zoom. "[They said] it came to the point now where I have to look the audience in the eye, where I can't hide behind a screen anymore, and I need to get out there and confront humanity."
Zimmer has revolutionized the sound of movies, creating some of the most iconic and memorable film scores of all time, but until 2015, he struggled with stage fright and imposter syndrome.
Luckily, his friends were able to help him overcome his fear of performing live. Following their pep talk, Williams invited Zimmer to play guitar for him during his performance at the 2015 Grammy Awards. "At that moment, I thought only an idiot would say no," the composer says. "That sort of started the whole thing up."
Two years later (just a few months ahead of his first-ever U.S. tour), Zimmer brought his sweeping film scores to the Southern California desert for his Coachella debut. Accompanied by a full orchestra, he performed music from The Lion King, Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean, Inception, Interstellar and more.
Suddenly I'm looking out and there are 80,000 people crying — I mean, crying in a good way.- Hans Zimmer
"I said, 'Well, this is a festival. We're not going to do The Lion King," Zimmer recalls. "And Nile Marr, Johnny Marr's son, said, 'Hans, get over yourself. That's the music of my childhood!' … We played The Lion King and suddenly I'm looking out and there are 80,000 people crying — I mean, crying in a good way."
Now, a new concert film, Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert, captures Zimmer conducting some of his most revered compositions, including his more recent scores for Dune and Dune: Part Two. The film was shot in Dubai and also includes documentary interviews with some of the stars and filmmakers Zimmer has worked with over the years, such as Billie Eilish, Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve, Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya.
"I figured out a really good method," Zimmer says about overcoming his stage fright. "I just get up on stage, look at the audience and do what Johnny said: look them in the eye and make contact with them."
We Canada should be proud of Denis Villeneuve
Given that Q is a Canadian show, Power felt it was only right to talk to Zimmer about one of his dearest Canadian collaborators, the Québécois director Denis Villeneuve.
"I think we should talk about Denis Villeneuve even if it's not a Canadian show because I love that man and Denis Villeneuve is truly a treasure," the composer says. "I think you should erect monuments to him, you should have his face on your money, you should invite him to Parliament. Because here's the thing: he has an enormous amount of imagination, he is truly a profoundly moral man and he leads with kindness, with unbelievable kindness."
Zimmer and Villeneuve immediately bonded over their shared love of Dune, Frank Herbert's novel, which they first encountered as teenagers.
"We're standing on the sidewalk at Warner Bros. waiting for a car to take us somewhere, and he says to me, 'Have you ever heard of a book called Dune?' And I sort of become like one of those little dogs that gets really, really excited…. I knew the book backwards and forwards. It was like my bible when I was a teenager."
After that conversation, Zimmer says he officially became the first person to be hired onto the film.
"My role became, you know, make sure we're doing it honestly," he tells Power. "We were making it with the spirit of teenagers — it took us back to when we read the book, but we had the knowledge and the craftsmanship and technique of having made some movies."
The full interview with Hans Zimmer is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.
Interview with Hans Zimmer produced by Lise Hosein.
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