J.J. Abrams, like every other luminary on the planet, went to see Lin-Manuel Miranda‘s breakout Broadway smash Hamilton. And like everyone else, he was impressed. But unlike Barack Obama, Dick Cheney and other boldface names in the Hamilton audience, Abrams offered Miranda a job. Abrams was working on a little project called Star Wars: The Force Awakens and there was a scene that needed a tune.
Abrams revealed to Jimmy Fallon that Miranda had jokingly offered to lend a hand — or rather a musical note or two — when the two met. It was good timing. Legendary Star Wars composer John Williams had just told Abrams he wasn’t game to write the music for a new Force Awakens version of the great cantina scene. So Abrams asked Miranda to do it. You know what happens when the director of the most popular film series in history asks you to compose a little tune for it, right? Yup, Miranda got on it right away. He wrote the music with Abrams.