Throughout his career, director Christopher Nolan has received constant support from his wife Emma Thomas. His wife has produced all of his feature films, which have grossed more than $6 billion worldwide. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards for her work on Nolan’s Inception (2010), Dunkirk (2017), and Oppenheimer (2023).
The two first met at University College London (UCL), where Thomas was studying ancient history and planned on following her father into the civil service field after completing her education. However, that changed after she met Nolan. The director introduced Thomas to the UCL Union’s Film Society and the two became close to each other.
Christopher Nolan’s wife, Emma Thomas, intended to go into the civil service field before she met the director
While studying ancient history at University College London, Emma Thomas planned to enter the civil service field just like her father, however, when she met director Christopher Nolan, everything changed. The director who lived in the same residence hall as her, introduced her to the UCL Union’s Film Society, where they arranged feature film screenings in 35mm and used the proceeds to produce newsreels and short films.
Together the two further explored the field and eventually, Thomas was sure what she wanted to do. In an interview with Variety, Thomas recalled that her father gave her brochures on civil service after graduation but she explained to him that she wanted to enter the filmmaking industry on “a very awkward lunch with my father.” Their first feature film, 1998’s Following, was made on a budget of $6,000.
Oppenheimer was the riskiest film they made
Further in the interview, Thomas explained that their latest movie, Oppenheimer, was the riskiest film they’ve made so far. She said,
“For me, Oppenheimer was definitely the riskiest film we have made – with the possible exception of Inception, which felt risky at the time. Even with Chris being who he is at this point, I didn’t feel there was a guaranteed audience for this film. I hoped people would feel they needed to see it in theaters, but many people still weren’t back post-COVID. And there’s the fact we’ve heard nothing but ‘theaters are over’ for a while now.”
Thomas married Nolan in 1997. The couple have four children and reside in Los Angeles. Together, they founded a production company called Syncopy Inc. in 2001.
