The surprising item Christopher Nolan banned from the ‘Odyssey’ set
Christopher Nolan admitted that he implemented a “no UGGs on set” policy while filming his Oscar-winning film “Oppenheimer” and the newly released “The Odyssey.”
“I want to stay in the moment. We want actors to stay in the moment.” Nolan shared with Gayle King on Monday’s episode of “CBS Mornings.” “For me, the UGG boots are a signifier of modernity.”
The “Oppenheimer” director shared that actors sometimes show up to set wearing the “big, fluffy, comfy” sheepskin slippers and they “weirdly take you out of reality.”
Nolan noted how the popular boots are more jarring to the on-set realism than the entire film crew.
“The funny thing is, you can be on set with a guy holding a microphone, you’ve got a giant camera, you’ve got crew everywhere.”
The “Interstellar” director continued, saying, “There are certain things that just remind you that you’re in the real world as opposed to the world we’re trying to create for the actors.”
The Oscar winner went so far as to compare the distraction to off-camera snacking.
“It’s like if someone’s eating a bag of chips off-camera or something,” noting that the shoes can take away from the world created by the set.
“UGGs are great,” the 55-year-old filmmaker clarified. However, he does not want to see them while filming his award-winning movies.
When talking to USA Today, Anne Hathway and Matt Damon discussed the director’s footwear preference.
“I did show up one day with UGGS and he looked down and went, ‘Nope!’” Hathaway shared her experience from “The Odyssey” set.
When asked about Nolan’s opinions of the Australian slipper, Damon laughed, sharing, “He hates UGGs more than anything.”
The Best Director winner was not just strict on the set of “The Odyssey,” as shared by Emily Blunt when she revealed that Nolan did not allow her to wear the cozy boots on the set of “Oppenheimer.”
“He has such an issue with Ugg boots. It’s a serious problem,” The “Disclosure Day” star told Stephen Colbert on an episode of “The Late Show” in January 2024.
“I walked in wearing them one day, and it was like The Devil Wears Prada. He literally just stared at them. I was like, ‘Chris, come on.’ He goes, ‘Take those off.’”
“But he hates them so I gifted him some,” the 43-year-old actress joked.
The “Inception” director is known for wanting his sets to be as authentic as possible, opting to film scenes in remote locations rather than settling for a green-screen and creating real-life visual effects instead of relying on post-production technology.
Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) “always tends to feel a little safe to me. I think if you want something to have a bit of bite, you’ve got to have the imagery to have a bit of threat.”
“Something real on camera, I think it give you a better result,” Nolan shared in a 2023 interview with Wired.
“The Odyssey,” which was filmed entirely on high-resolution IMAX cameras, was released in theaters on July 17 and grossed $124.5 million domestically during its opening weekend.
