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In 2020, Christopher Nolan became the internet’s villain after, in a Variety interview with Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway shared a generic talk show anecdote about what it was like to work on his film. The anecdote was blown out of proportion online, prompting Nolan to defend Anne Hathaway’s claim.
During the interview, Anne Hathaway told Hugh Jackman how Christopher Nolan increased efficiency on set by discouraging the cast from lounging in chairs. Anne Hathaway said, “I worked with him twice. 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.”
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Hathway went on to praise Nolan’s seemingly despotic approach, adding, “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.”
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The quote spread like wildfire online, with the internet accusing Christopher Nolan of ableism (discrimination against able-bodied people) for banning chairs from sets.
The backlash prompted Nolan to defend himself against Anne Hathaway’s claim. In a statement, Nolan said he’s pro-chairs and Hathaway had misconstrued the incident on set. In a statement to IndieWire Tuesday, the Oscar-nominated director’s rep clarified that Hathaway was probably referring to Nolan banning chairs “clustered around the video monitor, allocated on the basis of hierarchy, not physical need.”
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Nolan’s rep noted, “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.”
The rep shared that the only things banned from Christopher Nolan’s sets are cell phones and smoking.
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