An Exclusive AMFM Magazine Interview with Paul Salfen
When Hildur Guðnadóttir’s name appears in a film’s credits, audiences brace themselves for something extraordinary. The Oscar, Grammy, and Emmy-winning Icelandic composer (Chernobyl, Joker, Tár) has once again delivered a score that feels inseparable from the screen with Nia DaCosta’s bold 2025 reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, simply titled HEDDA.
Starring Tessa Thompson as a biracial, queer Hedda trapped in a stifling 1950s English country estate, the Amazon Studios film transforms Ibsen’s 1891 tragedy into a single feverish night of manipulation, lust, and rage at a lavish house party. Hedda’s former lover is now Eileen Lovborg (a woman and a brilliant writer), adding fresh electricity to the central relationship. Over the course of one evening, Hedda unleashes what the film calls her “ferocious appetite to inflict pain” on everyone around her.
Shortly before the film’s streaming debut on Prime Video, AMFM Magazine’s Paul Salfen caught up with Guðnadóttir (calling in from Beverly Hills) to talk about the seductive, jazz-infused score that has already become one of the most talked-about of the year.
Paul Salfen: When Nia DaCosta came to you with this very modern, very queer, very 1950s take on Hedda Gabler, was it an immediate “yes”?
Hildur Guðnadóttir: It really was one of those projects where I couldn’t say no. It was such a treat. The script has so many layers, and musically it felt like every new layer was another moment of “Oh yes, this is going to be fun.”
PS: You’ve called the score “jazzy,” which feels perfect for that smoky, late-night party atmosphere. How did you land on that sound?
HG: The people playing the parts — the band in the film, the singer, the percussionists, the incredible trumpet player who carries so many of the themes with such sensitivity — they were essential. Finding exactly the right musicians felt like a series of light-bulb moments. When we got it right, it was like, “Yes, this is it.”
PS: Hedda is such a canonical, almost untouchable character in theater. Does that come with pressure, or does the fact that she’s been interpreted so many ways since 1890 actually make it less scary?
HG: A bit of both, I think. People have very strong feelings about her, but she’s also impossible to pin down. She’s devious, thrilling, sensitive, cruel — all at once. We’ve seen so many versions of her that it actually frees you up. There’s a lot of creative juice in this character, and Nia’s take — making her biracial and queer, setting it in the 1950s — opened even more doors.
PS: One of the most magical moments on the soundtrack is the choir made up of the actual cast and crew singing together on set around that broken chandelier. Can you tell us about that?
HG: That was probably the most special musical experience of the whole process. We recorded everyone — cast, crew, everybody — singing together in that room. It was a way of celebrating the hundreds of people it takes to make a film. Breathing together, singing together… I’ll hold that moment really close forever. The entire creative process on this film was joyful, full of excitement about making things together.
PS: You’ve had an extraordinary run the last few years. Young composers look at you and think, “That’s the dream.” What advice do you give them?
HG: Patience. Real patience. I released my first solo album twenty years ago, and I was making music for a long time before anyone paid attention. That time was a gift — it let me find my own voice without pressure. Today everything moves so fast and people want instant results, but the biggest marker of whether you’re doing something right is how you feel when you’re doing it, not external validation. And be soft with yourself. We’re our own harshest critics. Some days the notes don’t come, and that’s okay. At the end of the day… it’s just music. You can let it go.
PS: Speaking of what’s next — you have Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later coming in January, then Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride in March (which you’ve teased as “crazy, bombastic, wild”), and a big 20th-anniversary orchestral tour. Is there ever a quiet moment?
HG: [laughs]No. Never a dull moment, and I love it.
HEDDA is now streaming on Prime Video, and its soundtrack — a heady cocktail of late-night jazz, haunting trumpet themes, and that unforgettable on-set choir — is available everywhere. If you listen closely, you can almost smell the cigarette smoke and feel the tension rising in that English country house.
As Guðnadóttir reminded us in closing: the joy is in the making. And with HEDDA, that joy is unmistakable.
