Nolan put himself on Hollywood's map with his first short film, Doodlebug, which was co-produced by his now-wife, Emma Thomas. It follows a man, who tries to kill a bug-like creature in his apartment.
Nolan's debut feature, The Following, was filmed on black&white 16mm film stock. To limit expenses, scenes were rehearsed extensively. Filming took place for 15 mins every Saturday for 3 to 4 months.Christopher Nolan's screenplay for Memento was based on his brother Jonathan Nolan's short-story, Memento Mori.Insomnia is the only film directed by Christopher Nolan, in which Nolan does not have an official writing credit, even though he wrote the final draft.Before shooting for Batman Begins began, writer, Nolan took the movie crew to a private screening of Blade Runner (1982). After the movie, he said to the whole crew, 'This is how we're making Batman'David Bowie initially declined the role of Nikola Tesla in The Prestige, but Nolan flew out to him personally to tell him that he was the only person he imagined for the role.Upon meeting with Ledger, Nolan knew he was the only choice for the part of The Joker in the The Dark Knight. When asked the reason for this casting, Nolan simply replied, 'Because he's fearless.'It took nearly eight years for Christopher Nolan to write the screenplay for Inception.Nolan wanted Marion Cotillard so much for the role of Miranda Tate in The Dark Knight Rises that he modified the film's schedule to accommodate her pregnancy.Nolan approached Indian star Irrfan Khan for a role in Interstellar, which Irrfan declined due to schedule conflicts with The Lunchbox and D-DayChristopher Nolan first got the idea of Dunkirk in 1992, while sailing to Dunkirk with his then girlfriend (and now wife) Emma Thomas.Tenet will be the fifth Nolan film to be released in the third weekend of July, which many consider 'a lucky date for Nolan' as his preceding four projects went on to become blockbusters