Christopher Nolan has never owned a smartphone or sent an email: “It’s getting harder and harder”
Oscar-winning director Christopher Nolan has confirmed that he’s never owned a smartphone, or even sent an email.
Nolan made the confession during a recent appearance on CBS’ 60 Minutes, detailing why he has opted out of the modern way of life and is living life like it’s still the 1990s.
“I do not, I never have. I have no interest,” Nolan said in response to a question about whether he does email.
Explaining his resistance to email, Nolan shared, “I get a lot of printed emails, when people say you’ve got to take a look at this, but no, I’ve never been particularly interested in that as a form of communication.”
Nolan was then asked about smartphones, another technological advance that he has shunned, admitting, “No, I’ve never had a smartphone; it’s getting harder and harder.”
It’s not WhatsApp, Uber or Deliveroo that’s making life harder for Nolan without a smartphone, with the filmmaker adding, “The return of the QR code has been quite tricky. The QR code had sort of gone away, then Covid brought it back, and now it’s everywhere. If you don’t have a smartphone, you can’t do much with a QR code.”
The Odyssey director did, however, reveal, “I carry a fliphone when I travel.”
When asked why he chooses to live like this in 2026 and if it’s “to keep the world at an appropriate distance and not letting it cave in on you”, Nolan said, “I think it’s more a thing of that I haven’t let the rest of the world cave in on me, I’m just living the same way that we all used to. To me, it’s just life as normal.”
He added of his stance, “I feel very fortunate to not be wearing the digital shackles, but such is life.”
Although Nolan, personally, has no smartphone and isn’t starting his day by responding to countless emails, it’s hard to imagine that a director of his status doesn’t have assistants on hand to ensure that his resistance to technology can exist.
However, Cillian Murphy previously revealed that Nolan hand-delivered him the script for Oppenheimer rather than just emailing it to him like any other director would, sharing in 2023, “In classic Chris style, he flew from L.A. to give me the actual script. You never get anything on email. He has to give you the physical copy.”
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