More than 10 years after Interstellar first released, Timothée Chalamet reunited with director Christopher Nolan for a special IMAX 70mm screening in Los Angeles. The event took place at AMC Universal CityWalk and was part of the American Cinematheque’s “Timothée Chalamet Live” retrospective.
In a video later shared by the Nolan Archives, Chalamet interviewed Nolan before the screening. The conversation quickly turned personal, as the actor spoke honestly about his experience on the 2014 sci-fi epic.
Despite playing a small role in the film, Chalamet called Interstellar his favourite project.
“Though my role is not enormous in Interstellar, I think I was number 12 on the call sheet, this film came to me at a time in life, in my career, where things were certainly not set yet,” Chalamet said. “And it’s remained my favorite project I’ve ever been in. It’s the film I’ve seen the most of.”
‘I thought I made it’
Chalamet played Tom, the teenage son of Matthew McConaughey’s character Cooper. But when he first watched the finished film, he was shocked to see that many of his scenes had been cut.
He has previously revealed that he ‘wept for an hour’ after seeing the movie for the first time.
At the IMAX event, he explained why he had such high hopes. “This was a script Jonathan Nolan wrote for Steven Spielberg,” Chalamet said. “When I got the part, I googled the project. The original story was about a father and his son, so I thought, ‘Oh man, I made it!’”
The audience laughed as he added that the story later changed and his role became much smaller. Christopher Nolan quickly responded with a smile: “Never believe what you read online!”
How Interstellar changed hands
Nolan also spoke about how Interstellar was developed. He said the idea began when physicist Kip Thorne pitched a science fiction film based on real science to Steven Spielberg. Jonathan Nolan worked on the script for years.
Eventually, the project became available, and Christopher Nolan decided to take it on.
“I had been working on ideas about time,” Nolan explained. “When it became available, I asked Jonathan if I could combine it with some of my ideas. He was fine with it.”
The film released in November 2014 and earned $681 million worldwide. It received five Oscar nominations and won for Best Visual Effects.
Interstellar received mixed reviews at first
Even though Interstellar was a box office success, reviews at the time were divided. Nolan admitted the reaction was not as positive as his earlier films like The Dark Knight and Inception.
“You’re trying to be polite,” Nolan told Chalamet when the topic came up. “The film was received in a slightly ambiguous way. It was a little bit sniffy.”
He said some critics and viewers were unsure about the emotional tone of the movie. “There was a sense of people not quite being ready for it from me,” Nolan said.
He also shared that one producer once described him as “a cold guy who makes cold films.” Nolan said that comment stayed with him for years.
“The reason I was attracted to the script is because it’s about family and humanity,” Nolan said. “It’s deeply emotional. That’s the film I wanted to make.”
A film that aged well
Over time, Interstellar has grown in popularity. Nolan said more people now approach him to talk about the film.
“For years, people would recognize me and talk about The Dark Knight,” he said. “Over the last 10 years, it’s become Interstellar.”
A recent re-release also performed well at the box office, proving the film still has strong support.
Nolan said that as a director, the worst reaction to a film is when people say it is just “fine.”
“You’d almost rather they passionately dislike it or passionately fall in love with it,” he said.
A creative disagreement on set
The two also spoke about one of the film’s most emotional scenes, when Cooper watches video messages from his children after years in space.
Chalamet appears in those recordings, and Nolan revealed there was a small disagreement during filming.
“There was a moment where you were playing a darker tone,” Nolan told Chalamet. “I didn’t particularly like it. I told you about it, and you went ahead and did whatever you wanted.”
The crowd laughed at the honest memory.
“But you knew what you wanted to do,” Nolan added. “You had planned your choices.”
Full circle moment
For Chalamet, Interstellar came early in his career, before he became a global star. Even though his role was reduced, he now looks back at the experience with pride.
“I thought I made it,” he said, remembering his younger self.
More than a decade later, sitting beside Christopher Nolan at an IMAX screening, it is clear that in many ways, he truly had.