Christopher Nolan's old-school casting story goes viral

In an era of unread texts and endless notifications, Christopher Nolan is proving Hollywood’s biggest blockbuster director still does not need a smartphone.

Matt Damon has revealed the delightfully old-school way Nolan recruited him for The Odyssey–and yes, it all started without a single text from the director himself.

Instead, Nolan’s wife and longtime producing partner, Emma Thomas, handled the warning.

“Emma had texted me, ‘Are you around for a call today?’ Because Chris famously doesn’t have a phone,” Damon shared.

That heads-up was necessary because as Damon explained, “always gives you a heads-up if he’s going to call,” before Nolan rings from “a nondescript number, because he’s just picking up a line at Universal Studios.”

The funniest part? “Even,” Damon joked, “doesn’t know what number it’s going to be.”

Damon admitted he initially thought the pair were simply catching up after the success of Oppenheimer. Then the conversation took an unexpected turn.

“He called and we chatted for 10 or 15 minutes,” Damon recalled. “So I just thought we were catching up... And then he blurted out, ‘Yeah, I’m thinking of going back to work.’ And I went, ‘Wait, already?’”

The Dunkirk director also revealed he never writes roles with specific actors in mind.

“I try to just discover the characters through the process of writing,” he said, explaining that writing for a particular actor can limit a character's potential.

Only after finishing the script does the casting begin. “You get to sit there and go, ‘Okay, I wonder what Matt’s doing this week or should I give Anne a call?’ And that’s the fun of it.”

Apparently, in Nolan’s world, one mystery phone call is still more powerful than a thousand texts.