Filmmaker Christopher Nolan and his producer wife Emma Thomas have said that King Charles told them he liked Oppenheimer because he had received the honor at Buckingham Palace. The Inception director formally received a knighthood on Wednesday and his wife, who has produced all of his films, received a damehood.
Their partnership has spawned major blockbusters, including The Dark Knight trilogy and their most recent venture, the epic biopic Oppenheimer, which swept the 2024 awards ceremonies.
Nolan said meeting King was “really amazing”, adding that receiving the honor together was “very special”. Thomas said that receiving damehood was “mind-blowing” and that she “never dreamed of something like this happening”, adding that being honored alongside her husband was “even more meaningful”.
Discussing his conversation with Charles, Nolan, 54, told the PA news agency: “It was great that he knew our work and was aware of it, and, yes, he was expecting me. “I’ll take this as encouragement to do more.” it.”
Speaking at Buckingham Palace, Thomas, 53, said: “He saw Oppenheimer, and he liked it, so it’s very gratifying to hear that.” The biopic of American theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and director of the Los Alamos Laboratory, which developed the atomic bomb during World War II, first won the pair the Best Picture Oscar and the Best Picture BAFTA.
Thomas said: “What I was really excited about is that I heard from so many young people who had their first experience of this story on the big screen, and then went in depth and did their own research on it The events we depicted.
The couple, who have four children, met while studying at University College London (UCL), with Nolan introducing Thomas to the university’s Film Society, where he was president and produced short films. Asked what advice he had for budding filmmakers, Nolan replied: “Find a good partner.
“We met on the first day of university at UCL and have been making films ever since. “The only other useful advice I’ve really thought of is to stick to your guns. If you have something unique to say, just stick to it and try to find an outlet for it.
Since marrying in 1997, the couple have co-founded and run a production company, Syncopy, which has been behind many of their blockbuster films. Nolan said that his partnership with Thomas was “incredibly important”, adding that they were able to “achieve so much more together than we ever could have individually”.
The director of Interstellar and Memento said: “At the heart of this it was important to have a partnership that was the same as before, with the same intentions and creativity.” Thomas said: “Finding partnerships like this is not the only way to do this, but it has certainly worked brilliantly for us. “As the world around you gets bigger, the core partnerships within it become even more important.”
Asked about reports that he does not use a smartphone, Nolan said: “I would encourage other people not to use a smartphone. This gives me a lot more time to think. When you’re sitting waiting for something and you don’t have internet in your pocket, you spend a little more time thinking about things.”
He said that “it was very exciting to see a new generation of film lovers discovering the power of the big screen and experiencing a story with an audience”. “That’s what makes cinema unique,” he said. “It’s a unique modern art – it’s just over 100 years old, and we’re just beginning to realize all the things that can be done with it. And that incredible experience of watching a story unfold with a group of strangers is truly remarkable.
Thomas said that his family loves watching movies and as long as there are great movies and theaters, we will be there. The producer said that “it is not possible to replicate that kind of magic in your own home or watch it with just one or two people”. Thomas said: “So we’re very grateful that we’ve been able to present our films to larger audiences over the last few years and hopefully in the years to come.”
