Black Panther Composer Ludwig Göransson On His 'Surreal' Oscar Nom And Virgo Work Ethic

Ludwig Göransson's morning was relatively chill for a first-time Oscar nominee. He woke up at the somewhat reasonable hour of 5:15 a.M. To watch Kumail Nanjiani and Tracee Ellis Ross announce the initial wave of Academy Award nominations from the comfort of his own bed, streaming it on his wife's phone. Any time his name was read as one of the nominees for Best Original Score, the Black Panther composer understandably freaked out. Yet a number of phone calls later — one from his director and good friend Ryan Coogler, another to his parents in Sweden — and he and his spouse were casually grabbing breakfast at his preference Los Angeles spot.


When MTV News caught up with Göransson post-eggs and avocado on January 22, he was still having trouble processing his good fortune. Immediately considering that, just 11 years back, he and Coogler were working on student film assignments with each other at USC; right now, they were making history. Alternatively, the 34-year-old composer and producer would rather give attention to the task ahead. Immediately after his morning media blitz, Göransson mentioned he was headed to the studio to work on the top-secret Star Wars television project, The Mandalorian. So perhaps the only thing chill about his morning was his attitude.


Here's what Göransson had to mention about his Oscar nomination, sharing this moment with Coogler, his Virgo work ethic, and what he plans to wear to Hollywood's biggest night.


MTV News: What was the opening thing that popped into your head as soon as you heard your name?


Ludwig Göransson: I mean, it's crazy. I'm still sort of pinching myself. It's just nuts. I may not believe it.


MTV News: So right now that you've had a number of hours to process, how are you feeling?


Göransson: I'm so grateful and really honored to be nominated for this film. I don't know, this sounds crazy.


MTV News: It's such a cool nomination not only for you, however for the film. Black Panther got seven nominations. It is the opening superhero film to be nominated for best picture. How does it feel to be segment of history like that?


Göransson: Well, first of all, the ideal piece of being nominated is just that it's for this particular project. It's for an assignment with a director who's, like, my best friend. And with other people that have also worked on the film that I have been working with, not just Ryan, although other people I have been working with for my whole career. I've worked with Ryan since we were students at USC, and we did a five-minute short film. And right now 11 years later, we worked on Black Panther which so several people around the globe saw. And folks are still talking about it. To be involved with something like that with your companions, and then you get awards and nominations, it's just such a phenomenal thing to share that with people you love.


MTV News: Have you discussed to Ryan yet?


Göransson: I discussed to him this morning. He called me and congratulated me. It was very sweet.


Coogler and Göransson at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013


MTV News: You've been companions with Ryan for a decade, and also Donald Glover. You and Donald were recently nominated for another Grammy this year for "This Is America." What is it like to experience these crazy, monumental moments with your close companions all at the same time?


Göransson: It's weird to experience it with Donald and with Ryan at the same time. We're in the same zone with each other, the same universe. It's the energy now. Everything at the correct place, at the correct time, also it feels surreal.


MTV News: I'm sure segment of it is just serendipity that it's all happening now, yet it still must feel incredible.


Göransson: Yeah, yet we're not doing anything different from any time we did our first movie or any time me and Donald did our first album. We're still working with the same passion, the same energy, and the same love for what we do and right now each person around us is recognizing that.


MTV News: I don't know what sort of person you are and why you internalize these kinds of things, nevertheless, as an example, I'm a Virgo, so I can't relish in anything because I'm routinely thinking about the next project. Are you like that at all? Are you enjoying this moment, or is your mind already on the second big project?


Göransson: I'm also a Virgo! I do this because I love working, I love creating, and I'm lucky enough to be working and to have people that wish to hire me. And thus, I had a magnificent breakfast with my partner, and I'm going to go to the studio and work on The Mandalorian.


MTV News: Today?


Göransson: Yeah.


MTV News: That's the dream.


Göransson: It is a dream, and it's a fantastic way of celebrating.


MTV News: What would you have for breakfast?


Göransson: We went to this place in Los Angeles on Hillhurst [Avenue] called All Time. And I ate something called "BOAT," which stands for Breakfast of All Time. It was beans, cooked plantains, avocado, and eggs.


MTV News: Is that your preference spot?


Göransson: It is my preferred spot.


MTV News: Have you discussed to your parents in Sweden?


Göransson: My spouse called my parents and I spoke to them for five minutes, because it's 5:30 [a.M.] In LA, although it's 3:30 p.M. In Sweden. So, they were already up and super excited. I'm from a smaller town in Sweden, so the local newspaper was writing about it.


MTV News: So that indicates you're going to get some sort of plaque really interested in you in your hometown.


Göransson: Maybe if I work hard enough. [Laughs] Maybe I'll get a little bit figurine or a statue or something.


MTV News: What's the 2019 goal?


Göransson: The 2019 objective is just to never stop learning. That's crucial for me, to never just relax and be also comfortable with what you have. I need to study more. I need to educate myself more — and not just in music, in everything — although especially in music and composing.


MTV News: That was a large segment of your success with the Black Panther score. You spent a lot of time learning and listening and traveling to Africa to engage with the process holistically.


Göransson: Absolutely. I was able to learn a new language — a new musical language is learning a new language, because it's so especially different from Western classical music. African music is totally different. Old music is there for a reason; it's all connected. The music is written for a ceremony or a wedding or a funeral or a special kind of dance, and it's about understanding what that music means to people. With the score for the movie, I wanted to have as much of this music and work with as several African musicians that I might and introduce this culture and this music to the world — having instruments they've never heard before be the lead musical instrument.


Every time you visualize T'Challa, the talking drum comes back inside the movie. That was the goal: to have African music be the forefront of the score. The most hard segment of the process was to find ways to combine it with an orchestra to give it that cinematic, superhero power that you need with the score. I also wanted to add some modern hip-hop production. So, it was really about combining these three styles with each other.


MTV News: You've been working with Ryan for the last decade, and I know that a lot of the department heads of this film had worked with him previously, like Hannah Beachler, who made history today because the opening African-American to ever be nominated for production design.


Göransson: It's incredible.


MTV News: So what's it like being segment of the Ryan Coogler family?


Göransson: It's the perfect family member I may have. I mean, having someone like Ryan as your leader of the pack... There's no better feeling than that. You know you habitually have him in your corner. Anytime you're stuck, any time you're stuck, you just call him or you converse with him and anything that he says will unlock new ways for you to be able to see things — just listening to him describing a scene in an other way, or a character. And although he doesn't play a musical instrument, the way he talks about music like he is a composer. He's someone you would do anything for.


MTV News: This last question is a most crucial question. I saw you rocked green velvet at the Grammys last year. Have you even thought about what you're going to wear to the Oscars?


Göransson: Just from my thought process this morning... I think it's a more conservative look. So I probably have to save my pink velvet suit for the Grammys this year and then go for a more established purple velvet for the Oscars.