Fallout: Jonathan Nolan reveals the secrets of the series to… his big brother Christopher Nolan

“I stole a few things from you,” admits the director, laughing.

Last week, the Emmys hosted an interview between Jonathan Nolanthe executive producer of the hit series falloutwho also directed a few episodes, and his big brother, Christopher Nolan. Their discussion lasted around forty minutes, and in addition to talking about the fear of nuclear power, transcribed differently in the series derived from Bethesda's video games and in the film OppenheimerJonathan returned to the important influence that his big brother had on his work and his career.

Because before signing for this post-apo show which a hit on Prime Videohe obviously worked alongside Chris, co-writing with him the scenarios for Memento, The Prestige, Interstellar… Solo, he also worked on the HBO series Westworld.

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Confirming in passing that the role of the Ghoul had been written especially for Walton Goggins, “Baby Brother”as Chris had fun nicknamed him, for example detailed, regarding one of the key scenes of the pilot:

“It was you who taught me how to make a film set an intimate place, where you feel safe. When filming the sex scene that turns into a murder scene with Lucy (Ella Purnell), I thought about your advice. I think it was only our third day of filming together, but we had already built a solid relationship with Ella. We decided to shoot on a completely closed set. It's something I stole from you, that (laughs). It was intimate, very secure. No phone, no distracting things. We had limited the team and we all felt that we were in a kind of bubble. I think Ella realized very quickly how respectful and safe this environment was for her. She was able to get started.” Ok doki!

Chris Nolan is indeed known for his filming techniques that allow his actors to stay focused. No cell phones on set, no chairs to rest between takes… An approach which was recently welcomed by the teamOppenheimer.

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“I stole other things from you, Jonathan Nolan also laughs, recalling that he was not the showrunner of Fallout, job which goes to Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner. It was one of the elements that excited me about this project, in fact. Collaborating. I saw it as an opportunity to be some kind of 'director who produces', for lack of a better term. I was there to help figure out how to bring this universe to life, how to translate it from serial games. The answer was: by using a whole bunch of things that you had experimented with before me.”

Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy at the Fallout premiere on April 10.

Detailing that he had the desire to shoot in Utah, in Bonneville, after a trip with Christopher, when he had just moved with his wife Emma Thomas to Los Angeles, Jonathan says he was obsessed by the idea of “filming such a strange place.”

“I have always retained a certain affection for this road trip, and precisely for this plain covered with salt, he said. I often told myself that I would come back to shoot there. I was happy to be able to make this dream come true with the first scenes of Maximus.”

Jonathan Nolan finally says he remembered the reactions of fans of Batman when his big brother had just cast Heath Ledger in the role of the Joker. At the time, they had just co-written the screenplay, along with David S. Goyer.

“I'm not sure you were fully aware of the phenomenon at the time, since you weren't very connected? I was, and I saw these kinds of reactions going on: 'Oh, you ruined everything!' People were complaining that Heath wasn't Jack Nicholson. I read that and it terrified me. I wondered how we were going to get out of it… Well, the fact is that it ultimately worked very well, and that gave me the courage to tell myself that by approaching this kind of adaptations not for the fans but as a fan, I could achieve this by treating the original work with as much respect as possible. The goal is to ensure that the love we have for the source material is felt, even if we have to make different choices in adapting these stories to the screen.”

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