Christopher Nolan Doesn’t Allow Chairs On His Sets Because If People Sit, “They’re Not Working”

SOURCE – While speaking to Hugh Jackman in a “Les Miserables” reunion Zoom chat (via Variety), actress Anne Hathaway, who worked with Christopher Nolan on “Interstellar” and “The Dark Knight Rises,” explained some of the peculiar rules that she encountered while on the filmmaker’s sets.

After saying that Nolan already doesn’t allow cellphones to be used on set, the actress also talked about some of the filmmaker’s other rules.

“Chris also doesn’t allow chairs. I worked with him twice,” Hathaway explained. “He doesn’t allow chairs, and his reasoning is, if you have chairs, people will sit, and if they’re sitting, they’re not working. I mean, he has these incredible movies in terms of scope and ambition and technical prowess and emotion. It always arrives at the end under schedule and under budget. I think he’s onto something with the chair thing.”

Thy Chris Nolan tea hath been spilt.

First, let me start this blog by stating that I absolutely love Christopher Nolan. To me, he’s arguably the best director in Hollywood right now (not named David Fincher, and at times, Steven Soderbergh). I even made a video about how much I love the guy.

But he instills the whole “if you’re sitting, you’re not working” thing on set? Since when did he give up directing movies and start managing a Forever 21? Because this is totally the move of a manager of a retail store in the mall. And trust me, I would know. Name a store in the mall, and I worked it: American Eagle, Fossil Jeans Co., I even once worked at Old Navy back in the day (not to brag). Ok, so maybe not every store in the mall. Just those three (and a Dippin’ Dots kiosk). But still, I understand the retail business very well. (I can also tell you the best hidden menu items off every spot in the food court.) But this whole no cell phone, no sitting down policy is straight out of the handbook of every Express, Aeropostale or Limited Too. You have to stand. Always. Even if you’re working a double shift that you picked up from Stacey because she was too hung over to show up to work. Freakin’ Stacey.

It’s similar to food service industry and the bosses who hit you with the “If you have time to lean, you have time to clean” mantra. I’d be willing to bet Nolan hits his actors with, “If you have time for a break, you have time for another take” or something lame like that.

But then again, the amount the movie studio saves on chairs probably directly relates to the number of sweeping shots of major metropolitan cities Nolan features in all of his movies. Would you rather have people on set to have the luxury of sitting or the movie to have a supporting role for Joseph Gordon-Levitt? Because cost-wise, you probably can’t have both.

I also love how this all stemmed from a Les Miserables reunion Zoom call. Like, what?? Chris Nolan is somewhere minding his own business, trying to figure out when to release TENET, and/or writing a script for another movie we won’t fully understand the plot to, when out of nowhere Anne Hathaway (of all people) does a drive-by blasting of him from a Les Mis Zoom call? Why is that movie even having a reunion anyway? It came out in 2012. Who holds 8-year reunions anyway? I guess actors who don’t have jobs right now, that’s who.

Also, while we’re on the subject of Les Miserables, here’s a flaming hot take for you: the non-musical version of Les Miserables (1998) with Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurmon and Claire Danes is a million times better than the musical version with Hathaway and Jackman, for one reason mostly: it didn’t feature Russell Crowe’s singing.