When Christopher Nolan Had To Refute Anne Hathaway's Claim That He Has Banned Chairs From His Set

Most of us have watched or read about THAT infamous Variety interview with Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway, where the actors shared anecdotes about what it was like to work in a Christopher Nolan film. It created such a flurry that the Nolan had to come out and defend himself. During the interview, Anne Hathaway told Hugh Jackman how Christopher Nolan increased efficiency on set by not having the cast 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.”

However, the actress went on to praise Nolan’s strict approach by 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.”

The quote spread far and wide online, with the internet taking Christopher Nolan's case for banning chairs from sets.

The backlash had prompted Nolan to defend himself against Anne Hathaway’s claim. In a statement, Nolan's rep said to IndieWire Tuesday that Hathaway has probably misconstrued an incident. The actress must have been referring to Nolan banning chairs “clustered around the video monitor, allocated on the basis of hierarchy, not physical need.”

The statement said, “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 only things banned from Christopher Nolan’s sets are cell phones and smoking."