One of the biggest directors of the 21st century in terms of both critical and commercial success,Christopher Nolanhas worked with some of the biggest actors of their respective eras, as well. Known for motion pictures such asMemento,The Dark Knight,Inception,Dunkirk, andOppenheimer,his filmography has run the gamut of genre classification, from science fiction and superheroes towar filmsand psychological thrillers. His films have made $5 billion at the box office and have garnered thirty-six total nominations at the Academy Awards, with eleven total wins.
Update August 13, 2025: In honor ofOppenheimer, this article has been updated by Evan Lewis to include even more actors who have frequently collaborated with Christopher Nolan.
And even though his directorial quirks like unconventional narrative structures and high-concept plots with low-concept characters, among the most significant facets of Nolan’s filmmaking process is his ability to find the perfect cast. Nolan has found many actors he enjoys working with and has brought them back for multiple films. These are the actors that have collaborated with Christopher Nolan the most.
12Ken Watanabe
Ken Watanabeis considered to be one of the greatest actors working today. While he is not known for being a leading man in his Nolan film appearances, he did get the opportunity to steal scenes as a supporting character. His first time working with Nolan would be in 2005 forBatman Begins, where he plays a character who at first is thought to be an iconic Batman character, Ra’s Al-Ghul. Watanabe would appear again inInceptionas an investor. Hopefully, he will get the chance to showcase his talent in a much bigger role in the future. Seeing as Nolan enjoys working with him, it is not off the table entirely.
11Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Despite not starring in either movie he appeared in by Christopher Nolan, American actorJoseph Gordon-Levittnonetheless provided a decent degree of star power with regard to bothInception(2010) andThe Dark Knight Rises(2012).
Related:Oppenheimer: Every Christopher Nolan Film That Influenced His New Epic
In the former, he played a character named Arthur, who acts as the partner to Leonardo DiCaprio’smain characterDom Cobb as the pair assemble a team of thieves that gather information by infiltrating the subconsciouses of their targets. InThe Dark Knight Rises(2012), too, Gordon-Levitt played second fiddle again, this time to Police Lieutenant James Gordon, played by Gary Oldman — a famous English actor who (spoilers) will definitely make an appearance later in the list.
10Marion Cotillard
Alongside the other Nolan collaborator that already appeared on the list as well as several others that will materialize momentarily,Marion Cotillardlent her acting chops to Christopher Nolan’sscience fiction outingInception. She played Mal Cobb, the deceased wife of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Dom, and after filming, Leo went on record and showed admiration for her performance.
Just a couple of years later, Cotillard made an appearance inThe Dark Knight Rises(2012). And this time, despite masquerading as the same femme fatale archetype known as Miranda Tate, Cotillard showed up as a dastardly villain who was truly named Talia al Ghul. Cotillard is one of the best actresses working, and audiences certainly hope to see her return for another Nolan collaboration.
9Anne Hathaway
The first role to detail with regard toAnne Hathawayand her contributions toNolan’s filmographygoes toThe Dark Knight Rises.Hathaway played Selina Kyle, also known as Catwoman. As was the case with the previous entry, her role in this Batman film franchise is perhaps the most prominent of her works with Nolan in terms of general popularity. And that trend is undoubtedly going to prosper throughout the remainder of the list with regard to the superhero trilogy.
However, as important as her portrayal of Catwoman was to the film’s development, Anne Hathaway did team up with Nolan on another occasion worth writing home about — this time, it was a particularly poignant performance by way ofInterstellar. She played NASA scientist and astronaut Dr. Amelia Brand, and while she didn’t make waves at award associations or anything, she nonetheless received substantial praise for her performance.
8Jeremy Theobald
Jeremy Theobaldmight not be the biggest name, but he has been with Nolan since the beginning. Theobald was the main character in Nolan’s feature film debut,Followingback in 1998. While he has never gotten big roles in Nolan films, he has shown up in small cameos inBatman BeginsandTenet. It is nice to see that Nolan has not forgotten where he came from and has made sure to include an old friend in bigger projects.
7Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freemanhas worked with Nolan three times, all in the same franchise. Morgan Freeman plays the role of Lucious Fox inBatman Begins,The Dark Knight, andThe Dark Knight Rises. Freeman’s character provides some much-needed levity to movies that are often considered serious.
Freeman is an accomplished actor, as before Batman Begins, he was famous for films likeShawshank Redemption,Driving Miss Daisy, andSe7enand had already won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor forMillion Dollar Babya few months prior toBatman Beginsopening in theaters. Since the trilogy’s conclusion, Freeman has been in theOlympus Has Fallentrilogy,Now You See Me, andThe Lego Movie,which features a version of Batman.
6Kenneth Branagh
Starting just a few years ago,Kenneth Branaghappeared in his first Christopher Nolan film as Commander Bolton inDunkirk. He hasn’t stopped working with the director since, which means he also showed up inTenetas the main villain, a Russian oligarch named Andrei Sator.
Branagh recently appeared inOppenheimeras real-life physicist Neis Bohr. For those unfamiliar with Branagh and his work: he’s been nominated for the most diverse set of honors at the Academy Awards, from Best Director and Best Actor to Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor. Nobody in the Oscars’ history has been given a nod for so many categories.
5Tom Hardy
Throughout the 2010s,Tom Hardyappeared in three films that weredirected by Christopher Nolan: first withInception, last withDunkirk. He played supporting roles in both. However, right in between those two releases, Hardy leant his menacing physique and idiosyncratic vocal intonations to Christopher Nolan in the final entry of the director’sDark KnightTrilogy.
WithThe Dark Knight Rises, Tom Hardy provided viewers with one of the more polarizing characters ofthe supervillain archetypeto ever grace the silver screen in the form of Bane. Oftentimes, the performance from these respective antagonists are well received — see Heath Ledger’s Joker fromThe Dark Knight,for example. Others, however, receive much harsher criticism, like Mr. Freeze fromBatman and Robin, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Audiences were actually torn on Bane, but in the end, no matter how you felt about the direction they took with his voice, there’s no denying that Hardy performed to an impressive degree.
4Gary Oldman
Although they collaborated on three occasions during an eight-year time span, it’s officially been more than a decade sinceGary Oldmanand Christopher Nolan worked on a film with one another. Initially, Oldman played Lieutenant James Gordon in Nolan’sDark Knight Trilogy(2005-2012), a character who remained a staple of the franchise from its opening tale to its dramatic finale.
And now, Oldman and Nolan have joined forces once again — this time withOppenheimer, starring Cillian Murphy as the titular, real-life creator of the atomic bomb during World War II. Oldman plays Harry S. Truman, the 33rd President of the United States in a small but vital role in the film.
3Christian Bale
To state the obvious:Christian Balestarred as the Caped Crusader in Christopher Nolan’s trilogy of Batman films. From 2005 withBatman Begins, through 2008 withThe Dark Knight, and until 2012 withThe Dark Knight Rises, Bale’s name was essentially synonymous with the famous comic book character Bruce Wayne.
Related:10 Times Christian Bale Completely Transformed Himself for a Movie
However, he did show up inseveral other films from high-profile directorsthroughout that time, such as3:10 to Yumaby James Mangold andThe Fighterby David O. Russell. And in his second (followed by two more, the remaining Batman films) collaboration with Nolan, he starred alongside Hugh Jackman inThe Prestige. This is among the more underrated of Nolan’s filmography — if you haven’t checked it out, maybe hold off on a rewatch ofThe Dark Knightand give ita go.
