Filmmaker Christopher Nolan has stoked rage online after it emerged that he doesn’t allow actors to use chairs on his sets. Apparently running out of stars to denounce, cancel-happy netizens did not take the news sitting down.
The director’s name came up during a webchat for Variety’s ‘Actors on Actors’ on Monday, in which stars Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman discussed the style of various filmmakers, eventually coming to rules on set, with Hathaway noting that Nolan allows neither phones nor chairs.
“Chris also doesn’t allow chairs. I worked with him twice,” she said. “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.
For every idiot that thinks the Christopher Nolan-chairs story is a thing, witness Hugh Jackman, who played the lead in a Nolan film, expressing surprise at this ‘revelation’. https://t.co/LzbOqrBb2j
Though Hathaway gave a nod to the director’s methods – while Jackman, who has also worked with Nolan, appeared outright surprised to hear about the chair ban – netizens rushed to the actors’ rescue, dubbing Nolan an “ableist” and even a “racist” for good measure.
So not only is Nolan a racist with his whitewashed, Dunkirk movie. But he’s also an ableist with his no chair rules. Fuck that man. https://t.co/wPWf7zaKWt
Im usually very anti cancel culture, but this shit about Christopher Nolan will not stand! Him being anti chairs is so lame!
Not only does Christopher Nolan want you to risk your life to see #Tenet in theaters because he’s a greedo, he bans chairs from his sets for cruel & arbitrary reasons.https://t.co/tW8GVwWxYK
“Think about how this affects the people he works with. How it limits the range of people who can work with him,” one critic said, while another suggested“Christopher Nolan won’t hire you if you have any type of physical disability. Got it.”
Skeptics soon showed up to rain on the parade, however, with some in the film industry arguing Nolan’s point about chairs on set is “kinda true.”
“People laughing at the fact that Christopher Nolan doesn’t allow chairs on sets because people won’t work, but as someone who works in the industry it’s kinda true… I’ve seen a lot of people who just sit down and sit on their phones,”said filmmaker Rebecca Winkler.
Others noted that the outrage was blown far out of proportion, questioning why anyone would be up in arms that “stars are treated like every other working class Joe.” Some even cast doubt on the claim itself, arguing Nolan does not, in fact, maintain a standing rule on chairs.
we have nothing else Chris.?
Lol people are reading WAY too much into this. Nolan does allow chairs on set and people are sitting all the time, even in his most recent movies.
man the worst y’all got is that the man doesn’t allow chairs on set ? shoot if I had the opportunity, i’d still work in one of Nolan’s pictures any day
Of course, as always, given such an opportunity the internet did not fail to deliver on the memes, many envisioning Nolan flying into a rage at the mere sight of a seat.
Nolan when he sees chairs on set pic.twitter.com/ynQyzOo3gP
christopher nolan seeing the actors sitting on chairs during the break pic.twitter.com/7gI13vBnTy
Twitter: Christopher Nolan hates chairs.Me: pic.twitter.com/z1zEX1FisB
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