--- title: Hans Zimmer on 'Interstellar' and Working With Christopher Nolan description: "Chris and I work as a sort of breathless, constant sprint because we are just trying to keep up with our own ideas" canonical: https://time.com/3579481/hans-zimmer-christopher-nolan-interstellar/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-11T22:52:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T11:22:30.063Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Hans Zimmer on 'Interstellar' and Working With Christopher Nolan og:description: "Chris and I work as a sort of breathless, constant sprint because we are just trying to keep up with our own ideas" og:url: https://time.com/3579481/hans-zimmer-christopher-nolan-interstellar/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd33360315de4c1af/698768438e06012ba945882b/hans-zimmer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2029 og:image:height: 1141 og:image:alt: Composer Hans Zimmer attends the 'Interstellar' New York Premiere on Nov. 3, 2014 in New York City. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hans Zimmer on 'Interstellar' and Working With Christopher Nolan twitter:description: "Chris and I work as a sort of breathless, constant sprint because we are just trying to keep up with our own ideas" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd33360315de4c1af/698768438e06012ba945882b/hans-zimmer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hans Zimmer on _Interstellar_ and Working With Christopher Nolan > Sponsored content. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Quora](https://time.com/author/quora/) ## Quora Nov 11, 2014 10:52 PM UTC  Composer Hans Zimmer attends the Interstellar New York Premiere on Nov. 3, 2014 in New York City. Composer Hans Zimmer attends the Interstellar New York Premiere on Nov. 3, 2014 in New York City. Jim Spellman—WireImage by [Quora](https://time.com/author/quora/) ## Quora Nov 11, 2014 10:52 PM UTC [_Answer_](https://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-working-with-Christopher-Nolan/answer/Hans-Zimmer-11) _by_ [_Hans Zimmer_](https://www.quora.com/Hans-Zimmer-11)_,_ Interstellar _composer_ _, on_ [_Quora_](http://www.quora.com/)_._ I think one of the things that is really great about working with Chris is that he doesn’t, in any way, get in the way of my imagination. In fact, he works very hard at not having me confined by the mechanics of filmmaking. So, our process is usually starting long conversations just riffing on ideas. Then slowly I start writing and experimenting, coming up with sounds, etc., all the while keeping in constant conversation with Chris. In _Interstellar_, for instance, there’re so many themes, so many pieces, which always got to a certain point during the writing process but never had an ending, because Chris and I would get to a certain point with an idea and then abandon it because we got excited about the next idea. You have to think of how Chris and I work as a sort of breathless, constant sprint because we are just trying to keep up with our own ideas. The ideas are so plentiful when Chris and I get together, but the execution always takes more time and it can be so frustrating. It’s sometimes very frustrating for him as well because he’s trying to make a movie and he’s waiting on the music. When it comes to the music for _Interstellar,_ I can honestly say that in one way or another, the music is our music, not just my music. It’s entirely our music, and that’s a testament to how much I let Chris into my world. The great thing is that as a composer, you can only write from the heart and from your innermost place. So, you have to trust your director. And that’s the thing — there’s a great sense of trust and a great sense of balance that Chris brings to the composing process. Because Chris cuts his movies in his garage, (giving his films a sort of a homemade quality), he never makes me feel that I have the enormous weight of the canvas on my shoulders. His editing process is really helpful for my composing process. The work and the story is always brought back to the personal and the intimate, and that’s perfect for how I work. _This question originally appeared on_ [_Quora: What is it like working with Christopher Nolan?_](https://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-working-with-Christopher-Nolan) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3579481/hans-zimmer-christopher-nolan-interstellar/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3579481/hans-zimmer-christopher-nolan-interstellar/"},"headline":"Hans Zimmer on Interstellar and Working With Christopher Nolan","datePublished":"2014-11-11T22:52:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:22:30.063Z","description":"\"Chris and I work as a sort of breathless, constant sprint because we are just trying to keep up with our own ideas\"","url":"https://time.com/3579481/hans-zimmer-christopher-nolan-interstellar/","keywords":["movies","celebrities","Christopher Nolan","Interstellar"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd33360315de4c1af/698768438e06012ba945882b/hans-zimmer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Quora","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/quora/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd33360315de4c1af/698768438e06012ba945882b/hans-zimmer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Composer Hans Zimmer attends the 'Interstellar' New York Premiere on Nov. 3, 2014 in New York City.","caption":"Composer Hans Zimmer attends the 'Interstellar' New York Premiere on Nov. 3, 2014 in New York City.","creditText":"Jim Spellman—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3579481/hans-zimmer-christopher-nolan-interstellar/","name":"Hans Zimmer on Interstellar and Working With Christopher Nolan"}}]}] ```