Christopher Nolan Says He Would Be “Terrified” to Direct a Romantic Comedy

Christopher Nolan has directed everything from sci-fi thrillers such as Interstellar, Tenet and Inception to historical dramas like Dunkirk and Oppenheimer, mysteries like The Prestige and Memento and superhero films with his Dark Knight trilogy. But there’s one genre the Oscar-winning filmmaker said he’d be “terrified” to tackle: romantic comedies.

During his first appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Thursday, Nolan discussed the lengths he went to shoot his adaptation of Homer’s Greek epic The Odyssey on 70mm IMAX cameras, making it the first feature film to do so. Fallon jokingly asked the director if he ever thinks about doing an “easy” next film, specifically asking, “How about a Christopher Nolan rom-com?”

“I think doing a rom-com would be incredibly difficult,” Nolan replied. “I love watching those movies. But, no, I think people who direct comedy, people who do comedy, I think that’s one of the hardest things in the world to make people laugh that way.”

“Particularly the risk they take,” he continued. “When you make a film … you know, if I show a film to people and maybe they don’t respond to bits of it, I’m like, ‘Ah, they don’t get it. Whatever.’ There’s no hiding behind that when you do comedy.”

When it comes to the genre, Nolan admitted, “I would be terrified of doing anything like that.”

While romantic comedies aren’t on his radar, horror is another story. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Nolan was asked whether The Odyssey had whet his appetite for directing a horror film, given that it features several horror-like sequences.

“It very much whets my appetite for more,” he responded.

“But I’ve always believed that horror as a genre has to be approached very carefully from a conceptual point of view. In other words, you have to have an amazing idea,” Nolan added. “When you go see a film like Obsession, that’s an amazing idea. That movie works like a motherfucker. It’s not about the technical side. It’s not about what technical itches I would have to scratch. It’s about story. So I’m always looking.”

The Odyssey is now playing in theaters, starring Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway and more. (See THR’s cast guide to all the stars and who they’re playing here.)