Anecdotes

He initially directed his Batman films so he could get funding and support for his bigger films. The one he had planned for years was Inception (2010).

His film, Interstellar (2014), is the sixth consecutive movie of his to have a role played by Michael Caine.

Gained major funding during the 1999 Hong Kong Film Festival by showing his film Following - Le suiveur (1998) and then asking the audience to donate money to his next film Memento (2000).

Considers Stanley Kubrick, Michael Mann, Ridley Scott, and Orson Welles as his primary influences.

Always refuses to use a second unit in his movies, preferring instead to oversee every shot himself with the DP.

His top ten favorite movies are: 2001 : L'Odyssée de l'espace (1968), Le Trou noir (1979), Blade Runner (1982), Chinatown (1974), Hitcher (1986), Lawrence d'Arabie (1962), Au service secret de Sa Majesté (1969)), Star Wars: Épisode IV - Un nouvel espoir (1977), L'homme qui voulut être roi (1975) and Topkapi (1964), as well as anything by Stanley Kubrick.

As of 30 July 2023, 8 out of 12 films directed by Nolan are on IMDb's Top 250, making him the most represented director on the list. The films, in descending order, are: 3. The Dark Knight (2008), 14. Inception (2010), 24. Interstellar (2014), 27. Oppenheimer (2023), 43. The Prestige (2006), 56. Memento (2000), 70. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) & 129. Batman Begins (2005). The 4 films missing are: Following (1998), Insomnia (2002), Dunkirk (2017) & Tenet (2020).

Following Insomnia (2002), his next project was going to be a Howard Hughes biopic starring Jim Carrey. Nolan had the screenplay written (calling it "one of the best things I've ever written"), but once it became apparent Martin Scorsese was making his own Hughes biopic, Aviator (2004), Nolan reluctantly tabled his script and took up directing Batman Begins (2005).

Does not like computer graphics in movies and purposely avoided them when he made Batman Begins (2005).

Is a huge fan of James Bond, and said to David S. Goyer, that his favorite James Bond movie is Au service secret de Sa Majesté (1969).

His most recent films were filmed under fake titles named for his children: The Dark Knight : Le Chevalier noir (2008) was "Rory's First Kiss", Inception (2010) was "Oliver's Arrow", The Dark Knight Rises (2012) was "Magnus Rex", and Interstellar (2014) was "Flora's Letter".

His first feature Following - Le suiveur (1998) was made for only 6,000 pounds and was shot mostly on weekends for about a year, because the cast and crew all had full-time jobs.

Prefers shooting on film stock over digital, and has been outspoken against the threat by studios to phase out the use of film as a choice over digital.

He does not create a story outline before beginning the writing of a screenplay, although he does take copious notes regarding events, characters, and ideas.

Received his Bachelor's degree in English Literature from University College London.

Was inspired to create the Dark Knight trilogy after viewing Richard Donner's Superman films.

Has directed 4 actors in Oscar nominated performances: Heath Ledger, Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., and Emily Blunt. Ledger, Murphy, and Downey won for their performances in his films.

Unadjusted for inflation, Christopher Nolan is only the second director after James Cameron to make two films that have grossed more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office (The Dark Knight : Le Chevalier noir (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012)). However, Nolan is the first director to have released both of the films in 2D only.

Described the IMAX format, which he is particularly fond of, as "virtual reality without the goggles".

In interviews he said, that he's only interested in making features that will be shown in theatres. He has no plans to ever work for Netflix. He criticized Netflix's distribution model as "mindless", because it would skip the traditional 3-month-theatrical-window, which he called a "terrific" model, that shouldn't be changed.

Adapted Ruth Rendell's novel, "The Keys to the Street", into a screenplay that he was set to direct for Fox Searchlight after Insomnia (2002). However, he instead went on to direct Batman Begins (2005). "Keys to the Street" remains unproduced.

Honored with a hand-print and foot-print ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California on July 7, 2012.

In addition to their artistic and financial success, Nolan's Batman films were also highly influential in shaping the business side of Hollywood from the mid-2000s onward. The success of 'Batman Begins' popularized the notion of 'rebooting' franchises, and 'The Dark Knight' was the first Hollywood feature film to have scenes shot in IMAX (thus popularizing the format for presentations of major films). The critical outcry regarding 'The Dark Knight' being snubbed (as well as Wall-E (2008)) a Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards (despite both being one of the most lauded films of the decade) motivated the Academy of Arts and Sciences to expand their Best Picture nominations field to 10 films (which was later changed to a flexible field of 5 to 10 films, depending on the results of the vote).

He has directed two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Memento (2000) and The Dark Knight : Le Chevalier noir (2008).

Was doing camera and sound work on training videos before making his film debut.

Is a huge fan of the rock band Radiohead.

He is the first British director to have a film make one billion dollars at the box office with The Dark Knight (2008).

Important inspirations for his editing style were the films of Nicolas Roeg and later Terrence Malick, especially his epic La Ligne rouge (1998).

Flew in a Spitfire plane during the filming of the aerial battle scenes of Dunkirk in order to get proper and realistic dogfight shots.

Nolan has both British and American Citizenship. His mandatory US Citizenship (not Nationality) was legitimized in 2002.

Christopher and Jonathan Nolan have developed a dedicated following often called the 'Nolanites' or 'Nolanists'.

Refuses to use Digital Intermediates for his films, instead opting to use the photochemical timing process.

He directed the first comic book film to make one billion dollars at the box office: The Dark Knight (2008).

Resides in Los Angeles, California with his wife Emma Thomas and their four children.

Was offered to direct Troie (2004).

He and Spider-Man (2002) director Sam Raimi are the only directors to do three live-action comic book adaptations of the same character.

Drinks Earl Grey Tea often on set.

The majority of Nolan's features have one common story element: The main protagonist experiences some sort of mind problem, that significantly contributes to the storyline. In Memento (2000), Leonard suffers a short-term memory loss that has been caused by the murder of his wife. In Insomnia (2002), detective Will Dormer suffers from insomnia. Thoughtout the Dark Knight trilogy (2005-2012), Bruce Wayne experiences a fear of bats, which inspires him to conquer fear and fight his mental suffering. In Le Prestige (2006), the magician Angier seeks vengeance for his wife's death and constantly experiences visions of the moment she died. In Inception (2010), Cobb suffered the loss of his wife, whose suicide he might have provoked. As a result of this trauma, he constantly sees and visualizes his wife, as if she's still alive.

While Nolan grew up in London, England, he did visit Evanston, Illinois, Chicago at least four to five times during his early childhood and teenage years but his enrollment in Hertfordshire's Haileybury and Imperial Service College meant his travels would not be as frequent as his brother. It wasn't until his University College London (UCL) years when he started making his professed visits to the US.

His favorite films include 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), 12 Angry Men (1957), Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982), Lawrence Of Arabia (1962), Metropolis (1927), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Ryan's Daughter (1970), Superman: The Movie (1978), The Thin Red Line (1998) and The Tree of Life (2011).

Even though he made the Dark Knight Trilogy dark and serious, he admits to being a huge fan of Tim Burton's Batman (1989).

Good friends with Zack Snyder.

Father of Flora Nolan, Rory Nolan, Oliver Nolan and Magnus Nolan.

Is one of the few people (also including his comic-book consultant and co-writer David S. Goyer) to work on films about DC Comics' two most famous characters and two of the most iconic heroes in Comics, "Batman" and "Superman".

He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2019 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to Film. He is a director and film-maker.

Is the first director to do three live-action film adaptations of the DC Comics character Batman.

He completely financed his first feature Following - Le suiveur (1998) himself and produced it without any additional funding.

Older brother of Jonathan Nolan.

He is the first non-American director to direct a Batman film.

His father, Brendan James Nolan, was a British advertising executive. His mother, Christina (née Jensen), was originally from Illinois, and worked as a flight attendant and an English teacher. Christopher's maternal grandfather was of Danish descent. His other roots are Irish, Welsh, English, Scottish, and Scots-Irish/Northern Irish.