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Christopher Nolan’s take on The Odyssey assembled some of the biggest names in Hollywood. But despite the cast’s collective A-list glamour, one element of their behind-the-scenes style was fairly... spartan.
During a recent appearance on Brittany Broski’s Royal Court, Anne Hathaway and Matt Damon — who play Penelope and Odysseus in the new film — opened up about a surprising rule on Nolan’s set. “Thou shalt not wear Uggs,” Hathaway said.
“That’s a good one — he hates Uggs,” Damon agreed. “I think they just symbolize leisure in a way that he’s not comfortable with.”
Days later, during Nolan’s July 20 appearance on CBS Mornings, the writer-director confirmed his preference for not-so-cushy footwear. “The funny thing is, you could be on set where you’ve got a guy holding a microphone, you’ve got a giant camera, you’ve got crew everywhere — but something like that can actually, weirdly, take you out of reality,” he said.
The Oscar-winning filmmaker likened it to “eating a bag of chips off-camera,” and added, “There are certain things that just remind you you’re in the ‘real world’ as opposed to the world we’re trying to create for the actors. You want to stay in the moment.”
Cozy slippers aren’t the only thing Nolan asks his cast to forgo in the filmmaking process, of course. As Lupita Nyong’o — who plays Helen of Troy and her sister, Clytemnestra — recently told AP, “Not having phones on set lends itself to a very, very focused set. There’s a different vibration on a Chris Nolan set. Everyone is present, everyone is ready, alert, and doing their bit to keep the train on the tracks.” (Nolan himself doesn’t use a smartphone in his own life.)
And in 2020, Hathaway — who also teamed up with Nolan for The Dark Knight Rises and Interstellar — said the filmmaker “doesn’t allow chairs” on his sets, a claim repeated by Damon on Royal Court. However, Nolan’s spokesperson said in a statement at the time that this piece of his director lore isn’t quite the full picture.
“The chairs Anne was referring to are the directors chairs clustered around the video monitor, allocated on the basis of hierarchy not physical need,” the statement reads (via IndieWire). “Chris chooses not to use his but has never banned chairs from the set. Cast and crew can sit wherever and whenever they need and frequently do.”
