Christopher Nolan Reveals the Movie That Made Him Jealous

Christopher Nolan started small. In 1998, he made his first feature, Following, on a tiny self-funded budget. But it didn’t take long for him to rise to the top of Hollywood. His 2000 film Memento introduced the style that would define his career—twisty timelines, high-concept ideas, and tense psychological drama.

Over the past 25 years, Nolan has built a career full of big, smart movies. From the Dark Knight trilogy to the mind-bending worlds of Inception and Tenet, his films combine spectacle with intelligence in a way few directors can match.

Interstellar, Dunkirk, and his recent hit Oppenheimer cemented his reputation as one of the most skilled filmmakers alive. Even someone as accomplished as Nolan isn’t immune to jealousy, though.

He recently admitted that Damien Chazelle’s 2014 movie Whiplash made him feel envious. The film follows Andrew Neiman, an ambitious jazz drummer played by Miles Teller, who pushes himself to the extreme under his harsh instructor, Terrence Fletcher, played by J.K. Simmons.

“I really loved Whiplash,” Nolan said during a past Tribeca Film Festival interview. “It was so tight, so perfectly put together, it actually made me jealous of the final result.”

Nolan admired Chazelle’s technical precision. Every drumbeat, every cut, and every moment of tension was carefully constructed. While Nolan builds massive worlds with space travel and epic battles, Chazelle created a claustrophobic, high-pressure environment inside a music conservatory—and he did it flawlessly.

The intensity of Whiplash impressed Nolan because it captured obsession and perfection in such a visceral way. He saw the film’s rhythmic editing, J.K. Simmons’ explosive performance, and the careful pacing as a level of mastery few directors can pull off.

Today, both directors are pushing the boundaries of filmmaking in their own ways. Nolan is currently working on The Odyssey, a $250 million fantasy action epic starring Matt Damon as Odysseus, along with Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, and Robert Pattinson. The film is set to release on July 17.

Chazelle is also busy. He is directing a new, untitled prison drama with Cillian Murphy, Daniel Craig, and Michelle Williams, which is highly anticipated by fans and critics alike. Even the best directors in Hollywood can feel inspired—or envious—of other filmmakers. In Nolan’s case, it was Whiplash that made him pause, watch, and admit that someone else had crafted something truly exceptional.

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