00:00Mahershala Ali just won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of real-life classical pianist
00:10Dr. Don Shirley in Green Book.
00:12But while accepting the award, he forgot to thank one of the most important people behind
00:16the film and his performance.
00:17Chris Bowers, who doubled for me and was the composer, and I'm so upset that so much was
00:25happening up on stage, just in my mind I forgot to thank Chris Bowers.
00:28Chris Bowers has previously worked as a composer on television shows like Dear White People.
00:33But for Green Book, not only did Bowers have to transcribe Shirley's music by ear while
00:37composing the score, he also taught Ali how to play piano and was the actor's double in
00:42the film that follows Shirley's journey performing across the South in the 1960s.
00:47While Bowers was honored for his work on Green Book with a Critics' Choice Award nomination,
00:51he's not eligible for an Oscar nom because the majority of the score is existing music
00:56originally written by Dr. Shirley.
01:02The forthcoming episode of The Hollywood Reporter's creator series, Magic Hour, takes a look at
01:06how Bowers helped shape the award-winning film and Ali's performance.
01:11I was playing in the air to show him where he should be on the keyboard throughout the songs.
01:15The way they combined it and the visual effects of it all was pretty amazing because we didn't
01:18do any green screens, we didn't have anything we had to wear.
01:22All it was was just making sure that it's matching our body movement.
01:25Sometimes it's just my feet, sometimes it's just my hands.
01:28According to Bowers, his parents decided they wanted him to play piano before he was born.
01:33From using his musical skills to impress his friends and girls in high school…
01:36That was my way of actually being cooler, quote-unquote, than I was.
01:41I mean, I was a music nerd.
01:43… to working with Jay-Z and Kanye on their Watch the Throne album.
01:46The new Magic Hour episode chronicles how Bowers' musical journey led him to work on Green Book.
01:51Somehow my life prepared me very perfectly for this scenario.
01:55And, of course, he reveals that his Magic Hour, the time when he does his best work, is…
02:00Well, to find out, watch the latest episode of Magic Hour debuting Friday, January 11th.
02:05You can catch this episode and all the others on THR.com slash magic hour.
02:09Until next time, for The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Tiffany Taylor.
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