on it. he climbed it. the 24-year-old was arrested for property destruction after reaching the top of the 366 foot sphere, taller than a football field by the way. he climbed up all of the way up to the top. he is from vegas. he pulled off a similar stunt here in san francisco a couple years back when he scaled the salesforce tower. that one. >> and got arrested. >> yeah. how else did you think that was going to end. not going to end in a hug and a kiss. that one seems difficult to. >> because it is round? >> all of it generally? [ laughter ] i just, i did not want to make that clear. >> i am not going to do it >> neither ami. >> stephen: christopher nolan, i'm a huge fan. i'm so excited that you've agreed to talk to me today but i just want to warn you: i am in charge of this interview, okay? this is going to be straightforward talking. it's not going to be some sort

of existential crisis pondering the nature of the universe or the fate of man. >> christopher: absolutely. >> stephen: good. because i was afraid you were going to try one of your, like, multiple timeline flash forward endings and if you did that, i swear -- ♪ ♪ i just wanted to create an episode of "the late show" but instead i started a chain reaction that could destroy the entire world. do you remember my interview with christopher nolan? >> i remember it well. >> stephen: oh, hey, albert einstein. i'm glad you watched. i'm a big fan of yours too. anyway... [clears throat]

now i am become death, destroyer of worlds. [rain pattering] damn it, chris! >> christopher: sorry. >> stephen: [sighs] you son of a bitch! come back here, nolan! ["benny hill" theme plays] ♪ ♪ >> announcer: it's "the late show with stephen colbert!" tonight... house of the rising dump! first, stephen welcomes christopher nolan! featuring louis cato and "the late show" band. and now, live on tape from the ed sullivan theater in new york city, it's stephen colbert!

>> stephen: there you go! ♪ ♪ come on. [cheers and applause] that's how you do that. that's how you do that. have a wednesday. welcome. welcome one at all to "the late show." i'm your host, stephen colbert. you know, folks, if you watch the show, and i hope you do, you know that i give republicans in the congress a hard time. but every so often, i know. but every so often, you just gotta step back and appreciate how much harder of a time they give themselves. because recently their stupid levels have reached critical dumb. earlier this week, under orders from donald trump, they rejected their own border deal that they demanded four months ago in exchange for aid to ukraine.

and instead, yesterday, they decided to impeach secretary of homeland security alejandro mayorkas, who most americans could not pick out of a line-up, including you, because this is not alejandro mayorkas. but in fact is just an image one of my writers found by googling the words "bald man in suit." the real, the actual target of this impeachment was actual homeland security secretary and "bald man in suit," alejandro mayorkas. the vote was called by house speaker and man in the commercial who has the confidence to shake hands again after taking cialis, mike johnson. the g.o.p., you'll remember, has just a razor-thin majority in the house, so clearly, speaker johnson would bring this to the floor for a vote only if he knew with absolute certainty they hd the votes to -- and they lost. mike johnson, are you definitely against porn? 'cause you sure like getting spanked while everyone watches.

[cheers and applaue] tsh! holding a vote without knowing the vote count is a rookie mistake that nancy pelosi would never have made. afterwards, this is how she described johnson's leadership. >> poo-poo. >> stephen: thank you. thank you, madame. so succinct. here's what happened. republicans thought they could lose three of their votes and still win the impeachment vote. but they did not count on the heroic return of texas democratic congressman and businessman werewolf, al green. the g.o.p. was counting on green not showing up because he was in the hospital recovering from abdominal surgery. but he learned about the impeachment vote while watching television, so he grabbed an uber to the capitol. that takes a lot of guts, some of which might still be

in the back of that uber. then he arrived on the floor of congress still in a hospital gown with no shoes. turns out, he was wearing one boot, but he left it in mike johnson's ass. [applause] thank you. anyway, where were we? green made it in time to cast his vote, and the impeachment failed. after the loss, the republicans put a motion on the floor to reconsider the vote. >> the question is on the motion to reconsider. those in favor say aye. aye! >> those opposed say no. >> no. >> the ayes have it. [laughter] >> stephen: i'm sorry, what? the ayes may have it, but his ears have lost it. who's -- what's her name?

marjorie taylor greene. [booing] okay, but how do you feel? marjorie taylor greene knew exactly who to blame for the republicans' failure: democrats. >> they hid one of their members, waiting until the last minute, watching to see our votes, trying to throw us off on the numbers we had versus the numbers they had. >> stephen: greene had a personal reason for being so angry. see, speaker johnson was so confident of victory that he already named 11 impeachment managers ahead of a possible senate trial. oh, i was wrong. speaker johnson can count his chickens before they hatch. [applause] sure! chickens. one of those managers was set to be marjorie taylor greene. really? she's feels less impeachment manager and more "i'd like to

speak to your manager." greene's been at the forefront of this impeachment push the entire way. in fact, she authored the resolution. which explains why mayorkas' articles of impeachment were written in crayon. [applause] the big problem with her resolution is that impeachment is not designed to be used against people you just disagree with on policy. it's all about high crimes and misdemeanors. but the g.o.p. never produced any evidence that mayorkas had committed crimes, let alone crimes that meet the threshold for impeachable offenses. sometimes you really need a crime. that's why dostoevsky didn't sell many copies of his first novel, "oops! all punishment." i think that might be the porno that mike johnson is in. after that humiliating defeat,

speaker johnson badly needed a win. so even though it was late, before the house adjourned, he called for a vote on the g.o.p.'s standalone package for aid to israel, and that failed too. but it's not whether you win or lose, it's how hard you laugh at mike johnson. of course, the super bowl isn't the only clash of titans happening in nevada this week, because yesterday they held their presidential primaries. on the democratic side, joe biden had a commanding win with 89% of the vote. it is always reassuring when his vote total is higher than his age. the g.o.p. also had a primary, but due to some party shenanigans, donald trump was not on the ballot. instead, he's part of tomorrow's republican caucus. so nikki haley was running unopposed. it was a big chance for her to spark some nik-mania, and she came through with 30% of the vote.

not great. but even less great, she lost to "none of these candidates," which got twice as many votes. nikki haley's campaign message is "nobody's better than me," and nevada agreed. she also lost to nevada candidates "not feelin' it today" and "gonna be a no from me, dawg." it's not all massive failures for the g.o.p. there is smaller failures. like republican national committee chair and star of the new cw showú"tiny judge,. mcdaniel has led the republican national committee since 2017, and she's gone to extreme lengths to prove her maga loyalty. she's the niece of trump critic mitt romney and used to go by ronna romney mcdaniel. but before she took over as chair, trump asked her to stop using "romney" in her name, so she immediately

dropped romney. and this is a family that puts a lot of thought into names. just ask mitt, his sons tagg, zap, blorp, shank, and gluff. one of those might be a sound effect. but even re-naming herself to please papa trump didn't stop him from saying this on monday. >> is it time for ronna mcdaniel to step aside? >> well, i think she knows that. i think she understands that. >> stephen: "well, i think she understands. i appreciated the romney thing, but i was shocked to find out that the rest of her name is ronna mcdaniel, and not, as i previously believed, ronna mcdonald. i thought she was ronald's beautiful clown wife, at the very least, a shaved fry guy." now, just one day later, sources say mcdaniel plans to step down. she's leaving to spend more time with whoever donald trump will allow to be her family. we got a great show for you tonight! i'll be talking to writer/director of "oppenheimer" and so many other

wonderful films, christopher nolan. stick around. ♪ ♪ >> announcer: "the late show with stephen colbert" sponsored by progressive insurance. bundle home and auto and save. visit progressive.com.

growing up, my parents wanted me to become a doctor or an engineer. those are good careers! but i chose a different path. first, as mayor and then in the legislature. i enshrined abortion rights in our california constitution. in the face of trump, i strengthened hate crime laws and lowered the costs for the middle class. now i'm running to bring the fight to congress. you were always stubborn. and on that note, i'm evan low, and i approve this message.

♪ ♪ >> stephen: give it up for louis cato and "the late show" band right over there. thank you, my friend. welcome back, everybody. please have a seat, everybody. thank you very much. folks, we're in the midst of hollywood awards season, and the most nominated film of the year is "oppenheimer." it's received 13 oscar nominations including best picture as well as best director and best adapted screenplay for christopher nolan. nolan's gripping epic presents the true story of robert oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, and his fall from grace following world war ii. it features this absolutely incredible cast, including academy award nominated performances from cillian murphy, emily blunt, and robert downey jr. as well as matt damon,

florence pugh, kenneth branaugh and so many other huge stars. but not me. even though it kinda looks like i'm in the film right now. i've been a longtime admirer of mr. nolan's work, and was honored to speak with him about his extraordinary film and his career. christopher nolan joined me at one of the key locations for "oppenheimer," the institute for advanced study in princeton, new jersey, where we sat down for an in-depth interview in albert einstein's office. christopher, thank you so much for sitting down with me to talk today. i know you don't do a lot of these. i'm really grateful that you're here. >> christopher: i'm a lot happier behind the camera, that's the simplest way to put up but i'm thrilled that anyone would want to talk to me about my work. that's a great thing. >> stephen: some physicians don't want to talk about their music because they say i've had everything in the music. is that how you feel as a director? >> christopher: it's often how i feel. depends on the nature of the questions. the fun thing with "oppenheimer"

as it's not my story. it's a great piece of history, incredible american story. talking about this film has been easier because you can talk about the issues around it. you can talk about the history. >> stephen: what sparked your interest in this particular story? i know you reference oppenheimer and the terrible possibility that a single nuclear ignition could destroy the entire world in the movie "tenet." is that moment related to making this film? >> christopher: definitely. every time i make a film i try to put sort of i guess i try to leave each film with interesting questions that may be in some unrelated form or possibly related form, to pick up in the next film. those kind of connections between my films. >> stephen: like that moment into the next film. there are references in acadia that tom stoppard looks through to create "the invention of love." >> christopher: that's a fancy

analogy to my work. it would one claimant. >> stephen: i'm trying to be as fancy as i can figure chris nolan. >> christopher: for me it's not as conscious as that. it's something i look back at michael, how did i come to this? then i start looking back, once the chain, what's the thread? >> stephen: what is the chain reaction? when did you achieve critical mass? >> christopher: critical mass indefinitely from reading the book "american prometheus." spent 25 years working on it. i was interested in oppenheimer on that i have a reference in "tenet" because that moment leading up to sitting in the room and having a actual discussion, only push this button, very small possibility, it's possible it might end everything and they went ahead and push the button and i thought what an incredibly

dramatic situation. we used it as analogy in "tenet" as a way in exploring science fiction but coming out of that experience robert pattinson who is in "tenet" gave me a book of oppenheimer speeches from the 1950s where he's wrestling with how do we deal with this reality, this change that we have wrought on the world and that took me a step further. and then our feller producer suggested i read "american prometheus." be one my wife and i watched the building of the first time i watched it and i'm curious whatr reaction is to the fact that i was so engrossed in the film and i was watching it with such rapt attention when my wife evie asked me afterward when i thought about the choice to shoot some of it in color and some of it in black-and-white, i said what are you talking about? [laughter] how do you feel that i didn't notice? >> christopher: i feel that's the perfect response because

there's a danger, any time you stylize the images in filmmaking, there's a danger that you remind the audience that they are watching a film. for me, shooting on celluloid film, mixing color and black-and-white which is something i had done as far back as my film "memento" and i wanted to revisit that technique because i think it's a great way of making the audience feel differently about a scene but not necessarily think about it too much. so it's a form of stylization that i think people are comfortable with. it's great to hear that, because i did want it to -- i wanted to roll by as more as a feeling that an idea, if you like. >> st>> stephen: there's mystiqe that's been built around you over many years and your process. can we fact-check a few things right here question right this is kind of lightning round. you'll either fly to an actor have them come to you where you will stay on-site as they read the script the first time. >> christopher: yes. >> stephen: yes. why do you do this? >> christopher: to keep the script private, to not email scripts around. it's mostly for that and also to really try and get that

immediate reaction and look in the eyes of the person who has read it and see, do they see the way i see it? can we find common ground creatively here? >> stephen: you know how hard it must be to read a script and go "i don't like it, chris." it's a little pressure. >> christopher: it's a little pressure but people can realize my ability to listen to them say i love it, it's great. i want to realize it. realize they don't. that's fine. >> stephen: you print your scripts in red and black ink so they can't be photocopied. >> christopher: yes enter my people not to photocopy or share. >> stephen: you don't have a cell phone or email address. >> christopher: i don't have an email address. i never use email. i don't have a smartphone. i will carry a pay a pay-as-you-go dumb phone. >> stephen: so you have a burner phone. >> christopher: yes, i suppose you could put it that way. >> stephen: do you work with the cartels? by "the wire" definitely. >> stephen: when you are done you break it up and put it in two different trash cans? >> christopher: jason bourne style, yes. >> stephen: you don't allow

cell phones or uggs onset. >> christopher: the uggs controversy. i try to minimize distractions onset. >> stephen: uggs are distracting questioning >> christopher: they can be for the other actors, yes. even though we are engaged in this absurd process where this wall is real but there's lights and there's a guy with a microphone or whatever, you're asking the actor to focusing on on the reality. so everything you can do, wearing the correct shoes or whatever, not changing your trousers. >> stephen: this is just for caste, not crew or anything? >> christopher: it's for the cast and for me. i'm in there with them trying to concentrate and trying to see the reality of it so anything we can do to keep that reality, keep that bubble intact. >> stephen: so the crew can have warm feet. just making sure. the british accent, that's made up, right? >> christopher: completely made up. >> stephen: it's very convincing. we come back,

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in the first person. you say in the oppenheimer scenes, it is "i walked into the room" or "i am standing here." why write that in the first person? >> christopher: to scare the hell out of cillian murphy when he read the script are presented with that challenge. we are in your head. >> stephen: had you ever done it before? >> christopher: no. as i started to write the script, i felt insufficiently connected, insufficiently inside his head and i knew that for me the key to telling the story was total subjectivity. just really feeling like you're inside this guy. >> stephen: how did cillian feel when he read that? to the say anything when he saw this? >> christopher: not right away, no. i had already sort of called him up and sent to him, come on. you're going to come and do this with me. said sure, absolutely. i'm in. then read the script. that's a scary thing for an actor. i think his head was fully

spinning from the experience of reading the script. but we definitely talked early on about the responsibility he was going to have as a conduit for the audience, as somebody just carry the audience with him and you've got to feel his feelings but you've also got to think his thoughts which for somebody like j. robert oppenheimer who isn't genius with an intellectual capacity far beyond any of ours, not to speak for you certainly. he is one of the greatest thinkers of all time come up there with people like einstein. how do you open up his process of inspiration, his thought process to an audience and make it comprehensible and understandable? a lot of that is just cillian's ability, his extraordinary empathetic ability to carry the audience with him and bring him into his way of looking at the world and that's what great movie stars do, they are great actors but they also have that compelling charisma to just take the audience with them. >> stephen: you worked with

cillian how many movies? >> christopher: six movies, 20 years. >> stephen: he tried out for "batman." there's pictures of him online in the bat suit. looks pretty good. why no cillian that man? why no irish batman? >> christopher: because there penry screen tested fiveman- different actors. cillian was the last to come in. i'd seen a photograph of him in the newspaper promoting "28 days later." i was struck by the look of him and i thought let's put a menace on number five and see what we get kind of thing. we formed an immediate creative connection. i think easter is one of the most extraordinary artists i've ever met. >> stephen: what did you see in him for "oppenheimer" other than the unbelievable baby blues? >> christopher: well. see what it's like looking at an alaskan malamute or something. >> christopher: it's a big part of it. i try not to think of actors when i'm ready because i don't want to limit with the character could be and if you're thinking of an actor, you're thinking of

something they've already done so trying to deal with real characters, real people, try to be pure to that. then when we are finished, american prometheus sitting on my desk and there's this picture of oppenheimer with his incredible eyes and that credible stare. i just was like, yeah, i know who can do that. i know the guy who has those eyes, has that ability to draw the audience in. with that intensity. >> stephen: what do you do as a director when you got six movie stars in your movie at least? six movie stars. multiple oscar winners out th there. >> christopher: emma and myself, emma my producer and wife, we for years we've tried to sort of set the terms of how we're going to make the film with people before they come and just sort of say, you know, it's not going to be a pampered movie star experience because we have found that hinders the work. what we want is a team effort, what we want is everybody just working together and keeping it all about the work.

and we have found that even the biggest movie stars in the world like robert downey jr. are kind of refreshed by that and thrilled to sort of turnup and focus on the craft, just focus on acting. >> stephen: it's great to see robert downey jr. out of "iron man mode. not take anything for that performance, it's a beautiful performance but in this, he is laying lewis strauss. at the golden globes, you mentioned when you are on stage to accept for heath ledger in "the dark knight chemicals we spoke of catching robert downey side in that moment and him looking at you and supporting yn that moment. you come back to that moment when he thought of him for this part? >> christopher: i did. i think that you're looking with anybody you work with with actors you can work with, you're looking for some kind of connection emotionally,

apathetically, you're looking for some, i would term it, talking about robert downey jr.'s generosity. he has this incredible generosity of spirit. it means that when he's in a scene with other people, he's making sure that they're all doing their best, that they are all able to bring their best to the table. he's helping them clarify the connections, all the rest. so i've always wanted to work with him. i've always seen that in his work. he has such charisma as tony stark. i think him playing iron man is one of the most consequent jocasta decisions that's ever been made in the history of the movie business. i wanted to give him the opportunity to lose himself in a part, lose himself in another human being the way that great actors love to. [cheers and applause] >> stephen: when we return, i ask christopher nolan if he now knows how to build

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this ad? typical. politicians... "he's bad. i'm good." blah, blah. let's shake things up. with katie porter. porter refuses corporate pac money. and leads the fight to ban congressional stock trading. katie porter. taking on big banks to make housing more affordable. and drug company ceos to stop their price gouging. most politicians just fight each other. while katie porter fights for you. for senate - democrat katie porter. i'm katie porter and i approve this message. >> stephen: welcome back. and now, more of my conversation , my rare look inside the mind of christopher nolan. kenneth branagh plays niels bohr who says. >> houser mathematics? >> sheet music, the important

thing is not can you read music, can you hear the music? >> stephen: what is the parallel in what you do, can you hear the music before you actually go execute the music? >> christopher: it's very much the thing of the difference between theory and practice. theory can only take you so far. the thing about filmmaking, my craft, there's a lot of technical information that goes into it. different ways you can approach it but ultimately if you let that get in the way of your instinct i don't think you can make a good film. the instinct and the emotional connection with the material, you have to find a way that that's leading things. >> stephen: the imagery of the raindrops, i found it to be beautiful and poignant. a friend of mine whose father is a physicist share this email with his reaction.

he commented that the raindrops were kind of in joke among physicists and ripples in the puddles her present waves propagating and interacting and reflecting the represent much of the basics of modern physics and quantum mechanics, the idea being that the basic constituents of matter and energy including light, atomic particles et cetera can be considered as probability waves like the waves in a pond as well as simultaneously particles. is that what you were going for? >> christopher: and people say there are no jokes in my films? he got the joke. see you in the opening shot is him looking. and the closing shot. looking at the raindrops in the puddles. >> christopher: to me the raindrops are wonderful, yes everything he's talking about in terms of the wavelike behavior particles that becomes so complicated for physicists to deal with. also the ultimate representation

of the shock waves. >> stephen: the existence of the nuclear bomb and what it does. >> christopher: for me it's one of the, as i think about it based on the reaction, it's one of the few areas where you can see something that is so important in the quantum world and also exists in the largest scale imaginable. there aren't many things like that. >> stephen: you tend to avoid cgi for practical effects or shooting an actual physical object, doing a thing or person doing a thing. you really feel in these films in one of the most remarkable moments is the trinity test itself. it is so convincing a reproduction of the trinity test that my question has got to be, chris nolan, do you now know how to make an atomic bomb and why aren't you under sanctions? >> christopher: fair enough. no, it's all fakery. but it's analog fakery.

andrew jackson and scott fisher, the visual effects supervisor, and special effects supervisor, they carried out a very early -- that challenge. andrew was the first person after emma that i showed the script two. takes a long time to figure out how are you going to do these visualizations of the atoms and the trinity test itself which had to be a showstopper. it had to be threatening. had to be incredibly beautiful but also primary threatening. analog imagery is just a lot better at doing that. >> stephen: how did you do it? >> christopher: a lot of very large explosions but with forced perspective so they would appear eager than they were with varying frame rates and a lot of very tiny things as well. really microscopic things floating in particular solutions. balloons and liquid. all kinds of amazing tricks, real library of it. took a very long time. but i was thrilled with their work, it was such a pleasure to have that material.

because we also knew we weren't going to use any sound. it's all image. you're asking the audience in the cinema to just si there for quite a while in silence looking at that imagery. being affected by it. >> stephen: there is something beautiful about an atomic explosion. >> christopher: absolutely. unbelievably beautiful. >> stephen: that's part of the tension of that moment. you know the horror of it but you can't look away from it. >> christopher: it's mesmerizing and hypnotic. we started a lot of footage of a bomb in h-bomb explosions. it's this terrible beauty. >> stephen: when we return, i'll ask chris why the music in his movies always makese so nervous. get the brands you want,

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♪ ♪ >> stephen: and now more christopher nolan. i understand you've basil of your scripts on the auditory illusion of the shepard tone. for the audience, i'd like to play it so they get a sense of what we're talking about. shepherd tone.

[ascending tone] it sounds like it's infinitely ascending. infinitely loading energy. but it actually never actually goes anywhere because the top note drops down and it just continues this illusion of attention and all you know for sure is that you're about to go insane. and you hear it. it's in several, it's of course the bat hard. >> christopher: absolutely. >> stephen: what does the shepherd tone do for you. >> christopher: the first time i encountered it was actually in a back song that i called my composer david julian on the prestige and trying to figure out the sound of anticipation, the sound of magic extensive film about two musicians and a lot of that is about anticipation and all the sound of the orchestra tuning up,

anticipation. i heard this sound that just keeps going up and up and up. i played it for him down the phone and he said oh, that's the shepard tone. new what was and described the mechanics and i said great, write the music that way. so we put it in the back pod. we never wanted to downshift. >> stephen: are you musical? >> christopher: i love music and of being involved in the process of creating music for film. i love the process of working with the composer. >> stephen: how do you approach your composer? how do you approach him with? do you say this is about the atomic bomb. possibility to destroy the world. need something upbeat. how do you start? >> christopher: i gave ludwig this suggestion. i thought solo violin could have a relationship with oppen oppenheimer's very neurotic

energy particular the beginning of the story. it could be warm and romantic and amazing and just with the slightest change it could be horrifying. hard to listen to. >> stephen: i had emily blunt on the other night and she said that you and your wife are learning to play the cello. >> christopher: yeah, i have dabbled with learning to play the cello. how many years. >> stephen: i'm curious, how many years? >> christopher: for me, seven or eight. >> stephen: the reason i ask, because pre"tenet" you are learning to play the cello. because in the opening scene in the orchestra when the orchestra is being taken over by the terrorist, when i first saw that, having nothing to do with this interview, long before i was ever going to interview you, i said why does christopher nolan hate cellos so much? because you know what i'm talking about. a very distinct moment when the camera goes to a cello and the terrorist puts his foot through this cello. why do you hate cellos so much?

are you just frustrated? >> christopher: very frustrated. it's very difficult instrument to try to learn. it's definitely my frustrations with the cello. my inability to learn. >> stephen: what is your pop music junk food? >> christopher: i am a huge david bowie fan. >> stephen: that is a most too nutritious. >> christopher: i don't want to lower the tone of the interview too much. we will stick with radiohead and david boyd. >> stephen: i'm asking christopher nolan, can you complete the sentence, "who let the dogs out customer" >> christopher: i cannot. interesting. who did let the dogs out? >> stephen: who? who? [laughter] [cheers and applause] >> stephen: when we come back, i ask christopher nolan if even he understands "tenet." stick around.

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>> stephen: and now ladies and gentlemen, the dramatic conclusion of my interview with christopher nolan. spoiler: it's great!

>> stephen: do i have to get your fillmore, experience your film? >> christopher: if you experience it, you are getting at. i think where people encounter frustration with my narratives in the past i think they are slightly missing the point. it's not a puzzle to be unpacked. it's an experience to be had preferably in a movie theater but also at home. hopefully in an unbroken period, linear period. it's an experience to be had. that's the point of it, that's the feeling of it. every thing else if people are interested to talk about it or debated more or if ideas resonate, that's a huge bonus. but for me it's really all about the emotional experience of watching the film. >> stephen: some people say they don't understand "tenet." some people say they don't understand everything in "tenet," some of it. do you understand everything in "tenet"? >> christopher: you not meant

to understand everything in "tenet." it's all not comprehensible. it's a bit like asking if i know what happens at the end of "inception." >> stephen: you know what happens to the spinning top at the end of "inception?" >> christopher: i have to have my idea of it for it to be a valid, productive ambiguity but the point is it's an ambiguity. whether it falls or not. >> stephen: let's stay on "tenet," niacin theories. i'm not going to get into the santos square which i have all figured out. but max is really neil, right? >> christopher: i don't allow myself to comment on fan theories anymore. >> stephen: it's okay. you should. have fun. kick off your shoes. let your hair down. >> christopher: i made the mistake many years ago and luckily he was before the prevalence of social media. i went to the venice film festival and showed "memento" to the first-ever audience who shot in the press

conference, they ask about my interpretation and i said the important thing is it's ambiguous, it's unknowable. my brother jonathan took me aside that you can never do that again. i say it's ambiguous. he said no one listened. they want an answer so if you're looking for ambiguity, you're looking for open possibilities. you have to keep your mouth shut. >> stephen: do you have guilty pleasures that might surprise people. i'm told you're a fan of the "fast & furious" franchise. >> christopher: i have no guilt about it. it's tremendous. >> stephen: i've never seen any of the movies and i want to see them because they are such popular movies. i should really try to understand more the country that i talk about every day. i don't like i can really do that honestly without watching the fast and furious franchise and i was wondering if you'd want to see down with me and watch all of them in a row? we have to start at 6:00 a.m.

and will be done by midnight. is that a yes, would you watch? >> christopher: i would watch them all the time, i love them. i'm amazed you've never seen one. you do not need to watch more than one sitting. it's only the last few, the specific arc and mythology. i would start with tokyo drift and just watch that. >> stephen: because it happens before the others, doesn't that? >> christopher: not before. >> stephen: did i just catch chris nolan not understanding something about time? >> christopher: i was going to say something. it's a spoiler. you should see it. [cheers and applause] >> stephen: thank you, christopher nolan. i will be calling you about that "fast & furious" marathon. good luck at the oscars! that's it for "the late show." tune in tomorrow when my guests will be andre 3000 and justin hartley. now stick around for "after midnight" with taylor tomlinson. good night!