Filmmaker Christopher Nolan has reaffirmed his decision not to use a smartphone in 2023, as he believes it would be too distracting.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published on Friday, Nolan clarified that he is not against technology itself.
“I think technology and what it can provide is amazing,” said Nolan. “My personal choice is about how involved I get. It’s about the level of distraction.”
As the director of the upcoming film “Oppenheimer,” Nolan explained that constantly using a smartphone wouldn’t be beneficial for his work, especially when writing scripts.
(Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP
This isn’t the first time Nolan has expressed his aversion to smartphones. In 2012, he stated that he simply never had an interest in them.
“It’s not that I’m a Luddite and don’t like technology; I’ve just never been interested,” he explained in an interview with Backstage during the release of “The Dark Knight Rises.” “When I moved to L.A. in 1997, nobody really had cell phones, and I just never went down that path.”
However, by 2020, Nolan admitted to owning a flip phone, which he occasionally carried with him.
“I’m easily distractible so I don’t really want to have access to the internet every time when I’m bored,” the director told Vanity Fair in that year.
Nolan also avoids email, and instead personally delivers scripts to actors like Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. for his film “Oppenheimer,” as explained by The Hollywood Reporter.
“People will say, ‘Why do you work in secrecy?’” Nolan said. “Well, it’s not secrecy, it’s privacy. It’s being able to try things, to make mistakes, to be as adventurous as possible.”
“Oppenheimer” is scheduled to be released in theaters on Friday.