King Charles has told Filmmaker Christopher Nolan and his producer wife Emma Thomas that he liked Oppenheimer, as they received honours at Buckingham Palace.
The Inception director formally received a knighthood on Wednesday and his wife, who has produced all his films, received a damehood.
The pair have created several major blockbusters including The Dark Knight trilogy and their most recent venture, the epic biopic Oppenheimer, based on the creator of the atomic bomb during World War II.
Nolan said it was “really wonderful” to meet the King, adding that to receive the honours together was “very special”.
King Charles has awarded Filmmaker Christopher Nolan and his producer wife Emma Thomas honours at Buckingham Palace
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Thomas said receiving a damehood was “mind blowing” and she had “never even dreamed of anything like this happening”, adding it was “even more meaningful” to be honoured alongside her husband.
Discussing their conversation with Charles, Nolan, 54, said: “It was very nice that he knew our work and was aware of it, and, yes, he was hoping that I would take this as encouragement to do more of it.”
Speaking at Buckingham Palace, Thomas, 53, added: “He’d seen Oppenheimer, and he liked it, so that was very gratifying to hear.”
The biopic of American theoretical physicist J Robert Oppenheimer, director of the Los Alamos Laboratory that developed the atomic bomb during the Second World War, marked the first time the couple had won the best picture Oscar and best film Bafta.
King Charles has told Filmmaker Christopher Nolan and his producer wife Emma Thomas that he liked Oppenheimer
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Thomas said: “What I was really thrilled by is the fact that I’ve heard anecdotally since about lots of younger people having their first experience of this story on the big screen, and then delving deeper and doing more of their own research into the events that we portrayed.”
The couple, who have four children, met while studying at University College London (UCL), with Nolan introducing Thomas to the university’s film society, where he was president and produced short films.
Nolan said: “The only other useful advice I’ve really thought of is to stick to your guns.
“If you have something unique to say, just keep at it and try to find an outlet for that.”
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Christopher Nolan has four children with his wife
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Since marrying in 1997, the couple have co-founded and run a production company, Syncopy, which has been behind many of their blockbusters.
Nolan said his partnership with Thomas had been “incredibly important”, adding they had been able to “achieve so much more together than we would have been able to individually”.
The Interstellar and Memento director added: “It was important having a partnership at the heart of it that is the same as it’s ever been, with the same intentions and creativity.”
