Christopher Nolan

Some Lesser Known Facts About Christopher Nolan

• Does Christopher Nolan smoke?: Not Known

• Does Christopher Nolan drink alcohol?: Yes

• Nolan’s father was from England and mother from America. His father was an advertising executive and mother was a flight attendant and an English teacher.

• He has two brothers. His elder brother Matthew Francis Nolan is a convicted criminal. His younger brother Jonathan is a screenwriter, television producer, director, and author.

• Nolan started making films at the age of seven. At this age, he borrowed Super 8 camera of his father.

• Nolan met his wife Emma Thomas for the first time at the University College London (UCL) where he was studying English literature.

• Nolan was the head of UCL film society. During his college years, Christopher Nolan made two short movies, namely Tarantella (1989) and second was Larceny (1995).

• Nolan’s first film, Following, was based on Nolan’s experience of living in London and having his flat burgled. 

• Nolan first earned recognition for his work in the movie- Memento. When he told the story of Memento to Aaron Ryder, an executive for Newmarket Films, the latter said that it was “perhaps the most innovative script I had ever seen”.

• Steven Soderbergh a renowned filmmaker, was very impressed by his work in Memento and recruited Nolan to direct the psychological thriller Insomnia (2002).

• Nolan is one of two directors to have made billions of dollars out of his two movies, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. Another one is James Cameron.

• In 2009, The American Society of Cinematographers honored him with the Board of the Governors Award.

• He was declared “the premier big-canvas storyteller of his generation” by Variety’s Scott Foundas.

• In 2012, British daily newspaper The Guardian ranked him among “The 23 Best Film Directors in the World.”

• Nolan was featured in “100 most influential people of the world” by TIME magazine in 2015.

• Nolan is red and green color blind.

• He won the Best Director in a Film award for ‘Oppenheimer’ (2023) at the 81st Golden Globe Awards, held at The Beverly Hilton in the United States of America on January 7, 2024; this was his first Golden Globe Award.

• Christopher Nolan was nominated for the 96th Academy Award for Best Directing category for the film ‘Oppenheimer’ (2023) on January 23, 2024.

• He won the Best Director and Best Film awards for ‘Oppenheimer’ at the 77th British Academy Film Arts Awards (BAFTA) held in London on February 18, 2024.