‘Nyad’ exclusive video: Alexandre Desplat discusses his score for the Netflix drama [Watch]

According to “Nyad” co-director Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, she and her filmmaker husband, Jimmy Chin, probably asked Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat to write music for at least six of their documentary projects. But it wasn’t until the pair’s narrative feature debut, the Netflix drama “Nyad,” that the composer agreed to a collaboration. 

“It’s a real privilege to watch an artist at work,” Vasarhelyi said in a new featurette released by Netflix. Watch it exclusively below.

More from GoldDerby

• Long overdue for an Oscar: Bradley Cooper has lost 9 times

• Gotham Awards predictions: Our odds favor 'Past Lives,' but expect the juries to spread the wealth

• Meryl Streep looks to break her own Golden Globes records with 'Only Murders in the Building'

Out now on Netflix, “Nyad” tells the story of Diana Nyad (Best Actress hopeful and four-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening), who at age 64 successfully swam from Cuba to Florida after four previous attempts. 

“Diana Nyad spends most of this film swimming underwater and no one’s talking. We’re aiming to achieve with the score the internal landscape of her mind,” Vasarhelyi explained.

To do that, Vasarhelyi and Chin enlisted Desplat, the acclaimed 11-time Oscar nominee who has previously won Academy Awards for his scores to “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and “The Shape of Water.”  

“I think that’s what I love the most in cinema when I can play like an actor with the characters and give them even more depth and larger life,” Desplat said in the video provided by Netflix. “That’s what music can do.”

“Alexandre’s score helps us add a layer of restraint to an act that seems so outrageous,” Vasarhelyi said.

“Nyad” debuted at the Telluride Film Festival in September to a strong audience response and the film has subsequently won positive notices from critics and audiences alike. In addition to Bening, the film stars two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster. “Nyad” also has several top craftspeople in its credits, including Oscar-winning cinematographer Claudio Miranda and Oscar-nominated editor Christopher Tellefsen. Vasarhelyi and Chin are Oscar winners for the documentary “Free Solo.”

Watch the video below to learn more about the Desplat score for “Nyad” and check out the film on Netflix now.

PREDICT the 2024 Oscar nominees through January 23

Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?

SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions

Best of GoldDerby

• 2023 Gotham Awards winners list: See who won at the 33rd annual event

• ‘Creed III’ cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau: Michael B. Jordan has been ‘training to be a director his whole life’ [Exclusive Video Interview]

• 'Suzume' writer and director Makoto Shinkai on the lingering fear of natural disasters in Japan [Exclusive Video Interview]

Sign up for Gold Derby's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.