Frozen film composer Christophe Beck said the film’s star Kristen Bell was the “obvious choice” to ask to perform at a Hollywood music gala honouring his career.
Frozen star Bell was set to perform during the Education Through Music (ETM-LA) annual gala at the Skirball Cultural Centre in Los Angeles, after leading a host of stars on the white carpet – including Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston and Harry Potter director Chris Columbus.
The gala was honouring composer Beck with a Shining Star award on the 10th anniversary of hit Disney film Frozen, which he said gave him a “sense of belonging and a real sense of accomplishment”.
Beck told the PA news agency: “I can trace my career to really two big chapters, before Frozen and after Frozen.
“I think when you have a movie like Frozen as a film composer, it really opens up all kinds of avenues for you and your career and I really felt that.”
Asked about Bell’s performance, he said: “I knew that we needed a performer to do something tonight, on the night where I’m being honoured, and it was such an obvious choice to see if she would be interested.
“I know that she supports this cause and has for a long time and so it just made sense.”
Beck said the organisation, whose mission is to provide music to under-resourced schools, was very important because school is a “tough time for kids, for me especially”.
He added: “Music was an escape, music was a way to feel comfort, to connect with other people in a way that was much more direct and much more natural to me than words.
“Sometimes words do not suffice, sometimes words are not enough to express how you’re feeling in a moment or a story that you want to tell… I think everybody should have that experience.”
Columbus also appeared at the event to support Beck, who has scored four of his films including the first Percy Jackson film.
He told PA: “The best I’ve ever worked with is John Williams, I’ve done five movies with John Williams but Christophe Beck is going to be on that level some day. He is on that level but I just think he’s going to be as popular as John Williams some day.
US actor Cranston’s sister Amy was also honoured at the event for her organisation SEL4CA (Social Emotional Learning Alliance for California).
The actor joked he first thought he was the one being recognised for the award, saying he was “a little weirded out when she first told me” it was her and not him.
The 67-year-old told PA: “Music is something when you’re introduced to it early on it’s something you will take with you for the rest of your life.
“It’s a mood changer, it enhances the mood you’re already in, it can change the mood you don’t want to be in. It is a friend, a companion, it is creative, it’s inspiring, it can be all of those things.
“In fact, if you want to stay sad you can put on something sad and go ‘I want to feel this sadness right now’, whatever it is it has that kind of universal appeal in whatever language it is, it just doesn’t matter.”
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