Christopher Nolan

Director & actor · born 30 July 1970 · Westminster, London, England, UK

Christopher Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British and American filmmaker. Known for his Hollywood blockbusters with complex storytelling, Nolan is considered a leading filmmaker of the 21st century. His films have earned over $7.7 billion worldwide, making him the third-highest-grossing film director of all time. Nolan's accolades include two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and two British Academy Film Awards. He was also appointed a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2019 and was knighted in 2024 for his contributions to film.

Nolan developed an interest in filmmaking from a young age. After studying English literature at University College London, he made several short films before his feature film debut with Following (1998). Nolan gained international recognition with his second film, Memento (2000), and transitioned into studio filmmaking with Insomnia (2002). He became a high-profile director with The Dark Knight trilogy (2005–2012) and found further success with The Prestige (2006), Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014) and Dunkirk (2017). After the release of the critically polarising Tenet (2020), Nolan parted ways with longtime distributor Warner Bros. Pictures over their streaming release strategy and signed with Universal Pictures for the highly successful Oppenheimer (2023) and The Odyssey (2026). The former won him Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture.

Where to start: Interstellar (2014).