Christopher Nolan's team clarifies which items director bans from film sets after Anne Hathaway controversy

Christopher Nolan’s representative has debunked Anne Hathaway’s claim that the director “doesn’t allow chairs” on the sets of his films.

Hathaway told Hugh Jackman that Inception filmmaker Nolan believes “if you have chairs, people will sit, and if they’re sitting, they’re not working”.

The pair were speaking as part of Variety‘s “Actors on Actors” interview series.

Nolan’s rep denied these claims while clarifying what the director does ban from his sets.

“For the record, the only things banned from [Christopher Nolan’s] sets are cell phones (not always successfully) and smoking (very successfully),” said Nolan’s spokesperson, Kelly Bush Novak of ID.

“The chairs Anne was referring to are the directors chairs clustered around the video monitor, allocated on the basis of hierarchy not physical need,” she told IndieWire.

“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.”

Novak’s words corroborate Jackman’s confusion when Hathaway made the claim – the actor previously worked with Nolan on The Prestige in 2006.

Jackman also said that Nolan is one of many directors to enforce a rule forbidding the use of mobile phones on-set.

Hathaway worked with the director on The Dark Knight Rises (2012) and Interstellar (2014).

Nolan’s new film Tenet, a sci-fi blockbuster starring John David Washington, Elizabeth Debicki and Robert Pattinson, is set to be released in cinemas on 12 August.

Read more

Parker Posey talks comeback and Woody Allen’s Irrational Man

How Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins changed the fate of James Bond

How The Dark Knight changed the superhero game without trying