Person of Interest "Person of interest" is a term used by law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and other countries when identifying someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. It has no le ...

Westworld ''Westworld'' is an American science fiction-thriller media franchise that began with the 1973 film ''Westworld'', written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild-West-themed amusement park populate ...

Christopher Nolan Christopher Edward Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British-American filmmaker. Known for his lucrative Hollywood blockbusters with complex storytelling, Nolan is considered a leading filmmaker of the 21st century. His films have grossed $5&nb ...

Memento Mori ''Memento mori'' (Latin for 'remember that you ave todie' (2000). Together, the brothers co-wrote the mystery thriller film ''

The Prestige ''The Prestige'' is a 1995 fantasy novel by British writer Christopher Priest. It tells the story of a prolonged feud between two stage magicians in late 1800s England. It is epistolary in structure; that is, it purports to be a collection o ...

'' (2006), the superhero films ''

The Dark Knight ''The Dark Knight'' is a 2008 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan from a screenplay he co-wrote with his brother Jonathan Nolan, Jonathan. Based on the DC Comics superhero, Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman Begins'' (2005) and t ...

'' (2008) and ''

The Dark Knight Rises ''The Dark Knight Rises'' is a 2012 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan, and the story with David S. Goyer. The film is based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is th ...

'' (2012), and the science fiction film ''Interstellar'' (2014). Nolan was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with th ...

for ''Memento'', and for the

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

for

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series is an award presented annually by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It was first awarded at the 7th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, held in 1955 and it is given in ...

and Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for ''Westworld'', among a number of other awards.

Early life

Jonathan Nolan was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, the youngest of three boys. His father Brendan Nolan is British and his mother Christina Nolan is American. He was raised in both London and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. Nolan attended

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise eleven undergraduate and graduate ...

, where he majored in English and was a staff writer for '' The Hoya''.

Career

Nolan's short story "

Memento Mori ''Memento mori'' (Latin for 'remember that you ave todie'Memento''. Although Jonathan received a "based on a story by" credit, not a screenwriting credit, the brothers shared a nomination for the

Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with th ...

as the film was released before the story was published. In 2005, Jonathan and Christopher co-wrote the screenplay for ''

The Prestige ''The Prestige'' is a 1995 fantasy novel by British writer Christopher Priest. It tells the story of a prolonged feud between two stage magicians in late 1800s England. It is epistolary in structure; that is, it purports to be a collection o ...

'', which is based on Christopher Priest's novel of the same title. The brothers collaborated on the screenplay for the 2008 film ''

The Dark Knight ''The Dark Knight'' is a 2008 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan from a screenplay he co-wrote with his brother Jonathan Nolan, Jonathan. Based on the DC Comics superhero, Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman Begins'' (2005) and t ...

''. The film went on to become the most financially successful Batman film, which has since been surpassed by its sequel, ''

The Dark Knight Rises ''The Dark Knight Rises'' is a 2012 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan, and the story with David S. Goyer. The film is based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is th ...

''. On 10 February 2011, CBS picked up Nolan's pilot ''

Person of Interest "Person of interest" is a term used by law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and other countries when identifying someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. It has no le ...

''. The show was officially picked up by CBS on 13 May 2011 to air in fall 2011. The series ran for five seasons and starred

Jim Caviezel James Patrick Caviezel Jr. (; born September 26, 1968) is an American film and television actor who played Jesus Christ in '' The Passion of the Christ'' (2004) and starred as John Reese on the CBS series '' Person of Interest'' (2011–2016). ...

,

Taraji P. Henson Taraji Penda Henson ( ; born September 11, 1970) is an American actress. She studied acting at Howard University and began her Hollywood career in guest roles on several television shows before making her breakthrough in '' Baby Boy'' (2001). Sh ...

and Michael Emerson. Nolan served as executive producer along with J. J. Abrams. Nolan wrote the screenplay for '' Interstellar'', a science-fiction feature based on the works of theoretical physicist Kip Thorne, who served as the film's executive producer. Christopher Nolan co-wrote, directed and produced the film, with Paramount distributing domestically, while Warner Bros. distributed internationally. Nolan and Lisa Joy wrote a pilot for an adaptation of ''

Westworld ''Westworld'' is an American science fiction-thriller media franchise that began with the 1973 film ''Westworld'', written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild-West-themed amusement park populate ...

'',

Michael Crichton John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavily feature tech ...

's 1973 science fiction Western thriller of the same name. On 31 August 2013, it was announced that HBO had ordered a pilot for a show, with Nolan, Joy, Weintraub, J. J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk as executive producers, and Nolan making his directorial debut. The pilot was subsequently picked up to series, with Nolan and Joy as co-

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also the ...

s, and premiered on 2 October 2016. In November 2016, HBO renewed the show for a 10-episode second season, that started in April 2018. On 1 May 2018, following the first two episodes of Season 2, the series was renewed for a third season. Nolan and Lisa Joy signed a $150 million deal to create ''

The Peripheral ''The Peripheral'' is a 2014 science fiction mystery-thriller novel by William Gibson set in near- and post-apocalyptic versions of the future. The story focuses on a young rural-town American woman who lives in the near future, and on a London ...

'' for Amazon.

Personal life

Evan Rachel Wood, Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy (35419191223)

Nolan found that having an English accent was very unpopular after moving to Chicago, so he learned to "sound like a good Chicago kid." When contemplating the artistic differences between himself and his brother, Nolan remarked: "I've always suspected that it has something to do with the fact that he's left-handed and I'm right-handed, because he is somehow able to look at my ideas and flip them around in a way that's just a bit more twisted and interesting. It's great to be able to work with him that way." Nolan is married to ''

Burn Notice ''Burn Notice'' is an American espionage television series created by Matt Nix, which originally aired on the USA Network for a total of seven seasons from June 28, 2007, to September 12, 2013. The show stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar ...

'' writer and ''Westworld'' co-creator and executive producer Lisa Joy. They have a daughter and a son together.

Filmography

Film

Television

Bibliography

;Short fiction * "

Memento Mori ''Memento mori'' (Latin for 'remember that you ave todie'Memento'' (2000)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nolan, Jonathan 1976 births Living people American male screenwriters American male short story writers American people of English descent Television producers from Illinois American television writers English people of American descent English screenwriters English male screenwriters English short story writers English television producers English television writers Georgetown University alumni American male television writers Writers from Chicago Writers from London Screenwriters from Illinois Showrunners