Exclusive Interview with Composer Anthony Willis of PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

I had the pleasure of speaking with composer Anthony Willis who wrote the score for Emerald Fennell’s directorial debut, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN starring Carrie Mulligan which premiered at Sundance 2020. 

Emily Clark: Are you excited for Sundance? 

Anthony Willis: I'm really excited for people to see this film. It's really original and interesting. I'm super excited for the reception. 

Emily Clark: What attracted you to PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN and had you worked with Emerald Fennell in the past?

Anthony Willis: I hadn't worked with Emerald before. You wouldn't know this from working with her, [but] this is her directorial debut. She has this amazing instinct for what she wants in this remarkable way. She's been in my life for a long time. She was in my high school in England. She was a couple of years above me. She was this wonderful actress [back then] and she still is this wonderful actress. She's in THE CROWN, for example. Through some other industry friends out here in LA we connected with her. I really wanted to help her out. She very sweetly asked for me to watch the film and write a demo, which I think on a film like this, [because] it is such a different film, there really isn't a road map of how to score it. With a film like this, any composer who is looking for an interesting project would be happy to do that. I was really taken by the performance of Carrie Mulligan and how she commands the screen. I wrote this theme and the music supervisor Sue Jacobs (BIG LITTLE LIES) said, I really think we can find a theme for this character. I come from that thematic world, coming up with scores with melodies and themes. That's what got me the job, writing that melody. It winds its way through the whole score. Melody wins, I suppose. 

Emily Clark: This is a dark comedy thriller. In what way is this film different in how you approach scoring? 

Anthony Willis: It's very different from any film I've worked on and very different from most films I've seen in its handling of... riding the lines between genres, which I think is something that's so difficult to do. We're conditioned to go to a movie and be immediately directed to a certain genre. [For example] okay, I'm in a superhero movie and I'm hearing music that  sounds like a superhero score, things to reaffirm the psychology, and to make you feel comfortable. I deliberately wanted to play with that. Overall, I would describe it as a classical thriller with a contemporary edge. I lean on certain classic harmonies, but also quite modal, more contemporary harmonies, building tension rather then with chromatic shapes, building it with slightly more friendly, less minor intervals, and then twisting it just a little bit when necessary. 

Emily Clark: Do you think that you have a specific genre that you enjoy most or are you still exploring different genres? 

Anthony Willis: I was really lucky early in my career to be mentored by John Powell. I think it's a wonderful example of how with the right compositional finesse you can apply a similar sensibility but a very different tone within the same voice like John's BOURNE scores versus HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON scores are tonally so different but you can build grades with anything. I've been inspired to do the same. It's just about finding the colors that can communicate those ideas. In this score, it's largely a string score with vocal synths that I built and that's where you get that contemporary score. I [also] love scoring animation. It gives you a chance to wear your heart on your sleeve. I just did the Dreamworks Holiday special of HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON. We've got a soundtrack out for that which is really exciting...we were able to share that with the fans.  I love animation [and] I'd love to do more dramas. In their own way, they give you the chance to do things a little bit differently. In animation, the score is expecting you to do a lot. In dramas, it's actually a challenge of thinking I need to stay out of the way of these performances and [ask] how can I support them without invading the picture? It's a fun challenge. 

Emily Clark: How do you work with a script? I think it's a fascinating element. Exploring the emotional nuances of each scene. What's your overall creative process like?

Anthony Willis: All composers have a different need and a different comfort zone for whether they start conceiving the score based on the script and I think it depends on the film as well, or if they wait until they're seeing the photography. Personally, I love to see the photography. There are so many ways to shoot a script and...so much is left to the performance. I think it depends on the project. That said, in time pressure, I think the thing that separates the really good scores is that honing of musical ideas without too much specific consideration of the picture or the ins and outs of the picture. You want to find the heart, the tone of the film--what does the film feel like overall? I think that perspective is a dangerous friend because you can become used to things and therefore, you've grown familiar with the material.

Emily Clark: When did you start composing and what do you love most about scoring music? 

Anthony Willis: I was a chorister when I was very young. I studied music at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle just outside of London. The standard of music making is really high and I got this very intense dose of some of the world's most beautiful choral music when I was 10-13 and I think that filled in me this desire to want to re-create that feeling of this beautiful music. At my next school, I started to write, probably just trying to figure out how the pieces I had been singing were built. I started to discover film music and be really inspired by that and... eventually came to LA. It's always nerve-wracking--am I going to be able to do this film justice? What if I pick the wrong material? Trusting that you've come up with something that's going to do the film proud. It's something you want to work with your director a lot [on]. Emerald was the best partner in that. You do need your collaborators to give you that perspective as well, with their vision of what's going to work. I love working with other people. Composing can be very solitary but actually communicating with other people is what makes it most exciting. You're building something together and that's a really wonderful feeling. 

Emily Clark: I love that you mention that, too. Music is such an integral part of the entire experience and the artistic expression of film. Sometimes people might not necessarily pay as much attention to reviewing or listening to music or listening for different modalities and styles. It seems like there is a lot of room for discovery and growth in terms of trying new creative approaches. 

Anthony Willis: People ask me what it's like, how you get better at it. It's like anything [when] you've done the journey enough times. My analogy is like [this]. I need to get from this part of LA to that part of LA and what's the best way to do it? On your first day, you're going to have no idea really and it's probably going to take you a long time and a bit of stress. But you just learn these things, you're able to look at things. It's amazing how our minds can do that. I think once you have the confidence to go, okay, well if the director wanted this string thriller score I'd know how to do that and I've thought about it, I'm not worried about it, [and] actually this is a really cool way to do it.