Jessica Chastain, Hans Zimmer echo ‘parenting’ message in ‘Interstellar’
While fans focus on the science fiction and apocalyptic themes of Interstellar, the film also has a strong emotional message about families and parenting. Starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain, director Christopher Nolan makes a big return with this 2001 inspired film.
“I do not think Chris[topher Nolan] could have or would have made this film 12 years ago when we didn’t have kids,” the director’s wife and producing partner Emma Thomas tells Entertainment Weekly. “Whenever I read that Chris’ films are ‘unemotional,’ I don’t agree, but I do find this one to be more emotional.”
Chastain says she unlocked the film’s mystery via an unlikely source. “One day, I noticed this girl. She was really shy and sweet. I went up to her, and she told me her name. And she was Chris’ daughter,” Chastain recalled. “All of the clues fell into place. You had to be a little bit of a detective, and when I figured it out, I was incredibly moved: ‘Interstellar’ is a letter to his daughter.”
Nolan won’t come right out and confess in the message, but suggests that in rewriting the script, among the many changes he made was switching McConaughey’s character’s child in the film from a boy to a girl. “For me, the whole movie is about what it means to be a dad,” Nolan said.
Even composer Hans Zimmer points to the parenting theme of the film, remembering a key passage in a letter he received from the director: “Once we become parents, we can’t help but look at ourselves through the eyes of our children.”
Interstellar opens in 2D and IMAX on November 7th, and also stars Casey Affleck, Michael Caine, David Oyelowo, Wes Bentley, John Lithgow, Ellen Burstyn, Topher Grace, David Gyasi, Mackenzie Foy, Bill Irwin, Timothée Chalamet and Matt Damon.
