How Tom Holland accidentally violated legendary director Christopher Nolan’s golden rule

Christopher Nolan is famous for having a strict set of rules when making a film: No cellphones or smoking allowed, only a single take for every audition, and scripts are only to be read in his presence.

While most stars respect these rules unquestionably, simply grateful to be working alongside one of the most legendary directors of our time, Tom Holland admitted to breaking one Nolan’s most sacred rules in his role for The Odyssey.

Several of Nolan’s sacred rules revolve around one of the most secretive parts of the movie process – the script.

In an attempt to avoid any leaks, Nolan is known to completely avoid using digital copies of his scripts, printing them using black ink on bright red paper, a combination that is near impossible to photocopy.

Because of his reputation and slate of movies (Inception, The Dark Knight, Interstellar and Oppenheimer, just to name a few), many actors sign onto his films without ever reading the script, but those who do want to read a script adhere to a strict protocol.

Because of Nolan’s refusal to use a digital script, he’s known to hand-deliver physical pages himself. If he’s unavailable, he’ll sometimes employ the help of a trusted family member to take on the task instead.

Cillian Murphy, who has worked with Nolan on six films, once told GQ that he has had Nolan’s mum, brother, and Nolan himself hand-deliver scripts over the years.

“Part of it has to do with keeping the story secret before it goes out. But part of it has to do with tradition. They’ve always done it this way, so why stop now? It does add a ritual to it, which I really appreciate,” he said.

Read more

This film has the biggest A-list lineup of the past decade

For Murphy’s most recent collaboration with the director, 2024’s Oppenheimer, Nolan flew to Dublin to deliver the script himself. Murphy said he was left to read the script in a locked hotel room while Nolan waited patiently.

Actors Nolan’s projects are required to read the script in one sitting and immediately return it to Nolan or his family member. However, Tom Holland recently broke that rule for his role as Telemachus in The Odyssey.

Speaking with Nine’s Entertainment Editor, Richard Wilkins, ahead of the film’s release, Holland realised he may have made a mistake in admitting that he had taken the script home after seeing Anne Hathaway’s reaction.

The pair play mother and son in the film, and during their joint interview, Holland revealed that he and wife Zendaya – who also stars in the movie – had read the script together before she had even been cast.

“I probably shouldn’t have done this; it probably goes against the Nolan protocol, but Zendaya and I read it together,” he told Wilkins.

Hathaway, who has now worked with Nolan three times, interrupted Holland out of shock to clarify if Nolan had let him take the script home.

“Yeah I don’t know if I should have said that,” he said.

“But I think it’s because I’m super dyslexic, and I was like, ‘dude, I’m gonna need hours to read this’.”

Holland appears to be one of only two actors ever allowed to read one of Nolan’s scripts in private – the director personally dropped the Tenet script off at Sir Kenneth Branagh’s house, allowing him to keep it overnight.

While some of his strictest rules revolve around the script, Nolan’s regulations extend far beyond the pre-production stage.

He famously does not have a cellphone. Nor does he use email. Owning only a small flip phone used only in emergencies.

So, his distaste for modern technology extends to his film sets, with a strict no cellphone rule in place to keep cast and crew 100 per cent focused on the task at hand.

But perhaps more peculiar than the no phones rule, is the long rumoured no chairs rule.

Read more

A fashion Odyssey: The year’s biggest blockbuster is a style spectacular

In a 2020 interview with Variety, Anne Hathaway said that Nolan “doesn’t allow chairs”.

“His reasoning is, if you have chairs, people will sit, and if they’re sitting, they’re not working,” she said.

The statement caused an uproar online, so much so that a representative for Nolan had to release a statement clarifying that there is not a ban on chairs, rather Nolan simply prefers no chairs around the cameras while shooting.

While many directors will use the directors chair on set, Nolan is known to never sit during a long days work instead choosing to stand directly by the camera to watch a scene unfold.

Actors and crew, however, are rightfully allowed to sit in chairs away from all the action whenever they please.

And while not necessarily rules, Nolan also follows a strict set of what, for the purpose of this piece, we shall call ‘Nolan Laws’.

The Odyssey be the first-ever movie to be shot entirely on 70mm IMAX despite the insane challenges it presents (do yourself a favour and google ‘The Odyssey mirror system’).

In Hollywood, there is perhaps no greater honour than being asked to join the cast of one of Nolan’s films. Despite the challenges that come along with it, working with Nolan continues to mark the pinnacle of success in the film industry.

Over the years, he’s released 12 feature films, all of which have been critically acclaimed, commercially successful, or in most cases, both of the above. The Odyssey will mark number 13 and is expected to be nothing short of Nolan’s usual level of success – it may even exceed it.