Marcelo Zarvos (‘Wonder’ composer): ‘The first time I watched it, I cried a lot’ [EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW]
Zach Laws
"The first time I watched it, I cried a lot," reveals composer Marcelo Zarvos as we chat via webcam (watch the exclusive video above) about "Wonder." Stephen Chbosky's young adult drama centers on Auggie (Jacob Tremblay), a 10-year-old with severe facial deformities struggling to fit in during his first year at public school. Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson costar as his concerned parents. After drying his eyes, the tunesmith divulges, "I knew that the thing I really wanted to capture was the spirit of this wonderful boy" in "the most profound yet childlike way."
The film was a change of pace for Zarvos, who has worked extensively in film and television. "There was nothing I had done that would really fit the mold in terms of a family movie like this," he divulges. "This is really the first time I've done a movie that my kids can watch, so it was different sound-wise." The composer and director worked extensively to find out what "the framework of the sound should be." He adds, "There was a lot of experimentation, and everything ultimately needed to feel like a song to [Chbosky], like it was a perfect little melody."
Zarvos competed at the Emmys in the Best Movie/Mini Score category for "Taking Chance" in 2009 and "You Don't Know Jack" in 2010. His recent credits include "Enough Said" (2013), "American Ultra" (2015), "Fences" (2016), and the television shows "The Affair," "One Mississippi," and "Ray Donovan."
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