‘Fallout’ FYC Panel Features Christopher Nolan Interviewing “Baby Brother” Jonathan About Amazon Hit Drama

Lynette Rice
·4 min read
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Neither used the word “bro” and there was zero talk about any sibling rivalry or late-night phone calls about their respective work woes, but Emmy voters who wanted to learn more about Amazon’s Fallout were treated Tuesday to an interview with Executive Producer Jonathan Nolan by his Oscar-winning sibling, Christopher.

Jonathan Nolan — who was introduced by the Oppenheimer director as “my baby brother” — talked about directing the drama based on a post-apocalyptic video game and how the role of the Ghoul was specifically written for Walton Goggins. But the 40-minute conversation at the DGA Theater also offered some insight into how the siblings collaborate and routinely inspire one another.

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“The exciting thing for me with this project was knowing that we needed showrunners to carry the story forward,” Jonathan Nolan told his brother about creators Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner. “I thought there was an opportunity for me to contribute as a sort of a producing director, for lack of a better term, to come in and try to figure out how we would bring this to life on screen. The answer was to steal a bunch of shit I learned from you.”

Jonathan recalled how a drive through the Bonneville Salt Flats in northwestern Utah that he once made with Christopher is what ultimately inspired a pivotal scene from the pilot.

“I went the very first time with you when you were moving to Los Angeles with [Christopher’s wife] Emma. We were in our dad’s car and we stopped at Bonneville and got out,” recalled Jonathan. “It was one of the strangest places I’ve ever been, and I’ve always had an affection for it from that trip. I always wanted to shoot there. And this was really the first opportunity to go back and get those shots of Maximus leaving with a Brotherhood of Steel on the Vertibird.”

He also credited Christopher for teaching him how to create a “very intimate, very safe” set while shooting some of the heavier moments of the series, like the “love scene-slash-murder scene” in the pilot between Lucy (Ella Purnell) and her soon-to-be slaughtered husband.

“That was probably the third day we were working together,” recalled Jonathan. “We really built a relationship in the course of that day. We ran a completely closed set … a trick I stole from you. It was very intimate. Very safe. No phones, no nonsense. Just a very limited group of people who are actually in that kind of inner sanctum. I think Ella realized very quickly that we were creating respect and safety in this environment. She was able to kind of go for it.”

And if it wasn’t for his time with his brother on The Dark Knight, Jonathan admits he wouldn’t have had the courage to adapt Fallout. (The Nolans co-wrote the Batman script with David S. Goyer that Christopher directed.)

“Your casting Heath Ledger,” Jonathan brought up as an example. “I’m not even sure you were aware of it. You weren’t online at the time when it was very online — the fact that people thought ‘oh, they’ve blown it.’ I remember watching that and being terrified. You sort of think, ‘how’s it gonna work out?’ The answer was it worked out very, very well. And that gave me the courage to sort of go okay, if you approach these things, not for the fans, but as a fan, find something that you love, and try to treat it with as much respect as you can. And trust that respect and love will show through even if you have to make choices.”

When it came time for Christopher to ask his brother for some teasers about season 2, Jonathan drew laughter from the audience with his faux incredulity.

“I can’t believe you would ask that. Such a betrayal,” Jonathan quipped. “Respect to Geneva and Graham. They get to tease that. that I will say we had an early conversation about the creatures that we’re going to build in the next six months to be in the second season. I think fans will be very, very excited. That’s all I got.”

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