Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas pose in the press room during the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards on January 07, 2024.Photo:Amy Sussman/Getty
Amy Sussman/Getty
Eight-time Oscar-nominated directorChristopher Nolanand his wife, three-time Oscar-nominated producerEmma Thomas, are partners in marriage, parenting and filmmaking.
The pair have four children together: Flora, Oliver, Rory and Magnus. In 2018, while promoting her and Nolan’s filmDunkirk,Thomas toldVanity Fairhow the Hollywood power couple balance their work and family life.
“Sometimes people will say to me, ‘Gosh, how do you do it? You have four kids and you make these big movies,’ ” she said. “But the fact that I work with my children’s father means I can bring my kids to work. I have a massive advantage.”
Thomas is one of the most prolific producers in Hollywood, with her and Nolan’s films having accumulated over $6 billion at the box office, perVariety.
“I work with Chris, so I fit what I do around what he needs, if that makes sense,” she told the outlet. “The common thread between what I understand my friends who are producers do and what I do is that we are with a project from beginning to end.”
In March 2024,Thomas won her first OscarwhenOppenheimertook home the award for Best Picture. “The reason this movie was the movie it was was because of Chris Nolan,” she said when accepting the award. “He’s singular, he’s brilliant and I am so grateful for you.”
So who is Christopher Nolan’s wife? Here’s everything to know about Emma Thomas and her relationship with the director.
She met Nolan in 1989
Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas attend the 90th Annual Academy Awards Nominee Luncheon on February 5, 2018.Dan MacMedan/Getty
Dan MacMedan/Getty
Nolan and Thomas met when they moved into their residence hall at UCL in 1989. Later, the pair ran the university’s film society together.
While receiving an honorary doctorate from the school in 2017,TheDark Knightdirector spoke about meeting his wife.
“We have four children. We have a body of work that we have made together,”Nolan saidat the ceremony. “So, the moral of the story is: pay a lot of attention to who you meet on your first night at your halls of residence.”
Thomas was born in London in 1971, and her father worked in civil service, which led to her spending some of her childhood living in the Middle East.
In January 2024, Thomas toldVarietythat she had to be brave about her career after a “very awkward lunch with [her] father.”
He presented Thomas with civil service brochures upon her college graduation, but she told him she wanted to pursue filmmaking and took on an unpaid internship with Working Title Films instead.
She and Nolan own a production company
Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas attend the AFI Awards on January 12, 2024.Jesse Grant/Getty
Jesse Grant/Getty
Syncopy Inc. only has four employees, including Thomas and Nolan, and the producer addressed the decision to have a small group in 2018.
“We’re not empire builders, we’re about the individual film," Thomas toldVanity Fair.
She has produced all of Nolan’s films
Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas attend the 96th Oscars Nominees Luncheon on February 12, 2024.Amy Sussman/WireImage
Amy Sussman/WireImage
Nolan is known as one of the greatest directors of all time, and his primary collaborator in life and filmmaking is Thomas. When accepting one of his DGA Awards, he even referred to her as his “partner in art and in life,” according toDeadline.
Thomas has produced all 12 feature films that Nolan directed, including his earlier short films, beginning withDoodlebugin 1997.
“All of the films honestly have built upon each other,” she said. “For example, when you look at something likeInception, there’s no world in which we could have made that afterInsomnia, orMemento."
Thomas added, “Each film builds on the last and yes, sometimes we do pinch ourselves and think, ‘gosh, how did we get here?’ ”
She is one of the most successful producers in Hollywood
Nolan and Thomas' films have grossed over $6 billion, and some of her films — such asThe Dark KnightstarringChristian BaleasBatmanandHeath Ledgerasthe Joker—are considered amongst the greatest films of all time. She has three Academy Award nominations herself — all Best Picture nods as a producer forInception, DunkirkandOppenheimer.
It seems the couple’s successful chemistry doesn’t go unnoticed on set. While accepting the2024 BAFTA Award for best actorinOppenheimer,Cillian Murphy— who plays the film’s titular character — thanked Nolan and Thomas, describing their relationship as “the most dynamic, decent, kindest producer-director partnership in Hollywood.”
In January 2024, Thomas spoke withVarietyabout her general philosophy on producing that has led to her success.
“You can ask 10 different producers [about what a good producer’s role is] and they will give you 10 different answers," she explained. “You can also be a producer on 10 movies and do the job differently every time because that’s what the job requires.”
She shares four kids with Nolan
Shortly after forming their production company Syncopy Inc. in 2001, Nolan and Thomas welcomed their first child, Flora. After her, they celebrated the arrival of three sons: Oliver, Rory and Magnus.
The couple have had each of their children in their films in some capacity, including Flora as an extra inOppenheimerandInterstellar.
She is Nolan’s biggest influence
Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas attend the BFI Chairman’s dinner on February 14, 2024 in London, England.Dave Benett/Getty
Dave Benett/Getty
Nolan may be considered one of the most influential directors of all time, but one of his biggest influences is his wife.
An example of this took place after the release of Nolan’s 2014 science-fiction epic,Interstellar, when he wasn’t sure what to do for his next project.
The book featured first-hand accounts of the Dunkirk evacuation during World War II, with the varied stories inspiring Nolan’s signature non-linear form of storytelling to create his 2018 featureDunkirk.
source: people.com
