Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat (born 23 August 1961) is a French film composer.
He began composing in the late 80's in his home country and gained international recognition in 2006 with his scores in The Queen - for which he was nominated for an Academy Award - and The Painted Veil. These days he is the Associated Composer for directors Roman Polański, Jacques Audiard, George Clooney, Guillermo del Toro, Stephen Frears and Wes Anderson. He’s also a collaborator with writer/director Chris Weitz.
Desplat is known for having a pretty extensive curriculum, with more than 4 scores every year, and has touched every possible genre like political thrillers (Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, Syriana), fantasy films (The Twilight Saga: New Moon, The Golden Compass, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Godzilla (2014)), action films (Firewall, Hostage), animation (sorry to say this, Brad Bird) (Rise of the Guardians, Fantastic Mr. Fox), comedies (Julie & Julia, Wes Anderson films), periodical dramas (The Painted Veil, The King's Speech, Lust, Caution, The Imitation Game) and even TV spots (the Jaguar spot featuring Tom Hiddleston, Ben Kingsley and Mark Strong). Though he works more often in the USA he still composes for his home country, like Rust and Bone and A Prophet.
He has been nominated for 8 Academy Awards, and won two, for The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Shape of Water.
Films with soundtracks by Alexandre Desplat:
Specific directors:
- For Wes Anderson:
- Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
- Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
- The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
- Isle of Dogs (2018)
- The French Dispatch (2021)
- For George Clooney:
- The Ides of March (2011)
- The Monuments Men (2014)
- Suburbicon (2017)
- The Midnight Sky (2020)
- For Stephen Frears:
- The Queen (2006)
- Chéri (2009)
- Tamara Drewe (2010)
- Philomena (2013)
- Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)
- For Roman Polański:
- The Ghost Writer (2010)
- Carnage (2011)
- Venus In Fur (2013)
- Based on a True Story (2013)
- An Officer and a Spy (2019)
- For Tom Hooper:
- The King's Speech (2010)
- The Danish Girl (2015)
- For Jacques Audiard:
- The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005)
- A Prophet (2009)
- Rust and Bone (2012)
- The Sisters Brothers (2018)
- For Chris Weitz
- The Golden Compass (2007)
- The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)
- A Better Life (2011)
- Operation Finale (2018)
- For Guillermo del Toro
- The Shape of Water (2017)
- Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)
- For Greta Gerwig
- Little Women (2019)
- Barbie (2023)
Rest of his filmography:
- Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)
- Casanova (2005)
- Syriana (2005)
- Hostage (2005)
- The Painted Veil (2006)
- Lust, Caution (2007)
- Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (2007)
- Largo Winch (2008)
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
- Julie & Julia (2009)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2010) & Part 2 (2011)
- Largo Winch II (2011)
- The Tree of Life (2011)
- Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011)
- Argo (2012)
- Rise of the Guardians (2012)
- Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
- The Imitation Game (2014)
- Unbroken (2014)
- Godzilla (2014)
- The Secret Life of Pets (2016)
- The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019)
- Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)
- Eiffel (2021)
