Timothée Chalamet Just Called Interstellar His Favorite Film Ever — And Christopher Nolan’s Reaction Said Everything
In a movie culture that rarely slows down long enough to look backward, Timothée Chalamet and Christopher Nolan just gave Interstellar a massive moment of renewed spotlight—inside a very specific kind of cathedral: an IMAX 70mm auditorium. And what happened there wasn’t a standard promotional Q&A. It played more like a love letter to a film that has quietly grown into a modern classic—despite the fact that, as Nolan himself admitted, the movie’s early reception was… complicated.
On February 9, 2026, Chalamet reunited with Nolan at Universal Cinema AMC at CityWalk Hollywood (Auditorium 19) for an IMAX 70mm screening presented by the American Cinematheque, part of its retrospective series “Timothée Chalamet Live.” The event was recorded and circulated online via fan archives and video platforms, and the headline-worthy takeaway traveled fast: Chalamet declared Interstellar his personal favorite of his own films—a striking statement from an actor with a filmography that now includes multiple awards contenders and global blockbusters.
But the deeper story isn’t just “Chalamet loves Interstellar.” It’s what that moment reveals about the film’s long arc—from debated release to emotional touchstone—and about Nolan’s creative instincts, particularly his insistence that this space epic was always, at its core, a story about family.
The Setting Was the Message: IMAX 70mm at AMC CityWalk
This wasn’t a random theater screening. IMAX 70mm is a premium, film-based format that cinephiles treat like an event. The American Cinematheque listing explicitly billed the night as “INTERSTELLAR in IMAX 70mm,” with a pre-screening Q&A featuring Nolan and Chalamet, staged at AMC CityWalk Hollywood.
The choice matters because Interstellar has become one of the defining examples of large-format filmmaking—a movie that’s as much about scale and sound as it is about narrative. Nolan is famously protective of theatrical presentation and film formats, and the ongoing appetite for Interstellar in IMAX has become a recurring proof point that audiences will show up when the experience feels singular.
That appetite was already visible during the film’s 10th anniversary run, which drew notable box office and sold-out showings—especially in 70mm IMAX locations—according to multiple reports on the re-release’s performance and cultural surge.
Chalamet’s “Favorite Film” Confession Wasn’t PR—It Was Personal
At the screening, Chalamet told the audience that Interstellar arrived at a pivotal time in his life—when his career “was certainly not set yet.” He reminded the room that his role wasn’t large (he described himself as “number 12 on the call sheet”), but he emphasized something that startled even longtime fans:
He has watched Interstellar more than any other film he’s ever seen.
It’s the kind of statement actors don’t make casually—especially actors whose careers are full of acclaimed work. It positions Interstellar not just as a credit on a résumé, but as an emotional anchor point: a project that shaped his sense of possibility before the world fully knew his name.
And if you remember how Interstellar used its younger characters—especially the children left behind—you can see why it might land that way for an actor who was, at the time, still hovering at the edge of breakthrough.
The “I Wept for an Hour” Moment: When the Role Shrunk, the Love Grew
Chalamet has spoken before about a painful first viewing of the finished film: he expected his part to be bigger, and after seeing how much was cut, he said he “wept for an hour.”
That detail has become legendary not because it’s dramatic (though it is), but because it’s relatable: almost every actor has some version of that story, but few are honest about the sting. In the 2026 conversation, Chalamet explained the origin of his expectations in a way that’s almost comically human: he had Googled the project and believed the original story was centered more heavily on “a father and his son,” making him think, essentially, “Oh man, I made it.”
Nolan’s response—half-joking, half-directorly wisdom—cut through the room:
“Never believe what you read online!”
It played as a laugh line, but it also underlined a truth about filmmaking that the audience could feel: scripts change, edits change, and the final movie is a different organism than the one you auditioned for.
Yet the twist is that Chalamet didn’t turn bitter about it. He turned devoted. The role was smaller than he imagined, but the movie became the one he loved most.
How Interstellar Started With Spielberg, Kip Thorne, and Jonathan Nolan
One of the most fascinating parts of the discussion was Nolan explaining how Interstellar began as something not originally intended to be a Christopher Nolan film.
Nolan described the genesis as a pitch from physicist Kip Thorne to Steven Spielberg—specifically, a science-fiction film rooted in “real science.” Nolan’s brother, Jonathan Nolan, was attached and spent years developing it while Spielberg was circling the project. Eventually, Spielberg moved on, and the script became available—at which point Christopher Nolan stepped in, combining Jonathan’s foundational ideas (especially the first act) with his own thematic interests in time and perception.
That origin story matters because it explains why Interstellar feels like two things at once:
A deeply emotional, family-centered drama
A technically ambitious science epic that wants to earn its wonder
The Thorne connection also helps explain why the film’s physics and visuals had such staying power—enough that major scientific organizations have discussed its impact on public interest in black holes and astrophysics.
“They Weren’t Ready for It From Me”: Nolan on the Mixed Reception
When Interstellar opened in 2014, it made serious money—$681 million worldwide—and earned five Academy Award nominations, ultimately winning Best Visual Effects.
But in the Chalamet conversation, Nolan acknowledged what many fans remember: the critical and cultural response wasn’t unanimously warm at first. He described it as “slightly ambiguous,” even “sniffy” in some quarters, suggesting there was a sense that audiences and critics weren’t sure what to do with a Nolan film that was so openly sentimental.
Nolan also referenced a producer’s comment that haunted him—an idea that he was “a cold guy who makes cold films.” He pushed back on that label by emphasizing why he was drawn to Interstellar in the first place: it’s about humanity and family, and it wears its heart on its sleeve.
That is, arguably, the center of why the film’s reputation has evolved. In 2014, some viewers wanted a puzzle-box Nolan movie. What they got was something more emotionally direct—and time has been kind to that choice.
The “Grows Every Year” Phenomenon: How Interstellar Became the Nolan Film People Mention First
Nolan noted that over time, the movie has only deepened its cultural footprint. He described how people used to approach him about The Dark Knight, but in the last decade, the reference has increasingly shifted to Interstellar.
And the numbers back up the sense of growth. The film’s IMAX re-release and anniversary runs drew real attention and dollars, with reporting showing meaningful grosses for a rerelease and clear evidence of demand for the format.
In other words: Interstellar didn’t just “age well.” It expanded—from a big 2014 release into a generational touchstone that keeps recruiting new viewers who want to see it the “right way,” on the biggest screen possible.
The Scene Nolan “Didn’t Particularly Like” — And Why It Matters
One of the most revealing anecdotes from the conversation involved Chalamet’s performance in the filmed “messages from home” sequence—one of the film’s emotional high points.
Nolan told Chalamet that during filming there was a darker tone in his performance choices that Nolan didn’t particularly like, and that Chalamet effectively held his ground—continuing with his approach rather than abandoning it on a quick note. Nolan’s takeaway was that Chalamet had planned his choices and wanted to test them; if Nolan truly needed a change, he’d keep returning to the note. Since he didn’t, Nolan found the logic later in the edit.
For aspiring actors and filmmakers, it’s an unusually candid masterclass moment: a director admitting he had a preference, an actor sticking to an intention, and the final film benefiting from the tension between those instincts.
Why This Moment Hits Harder in 2026
Chalamet is no longer the young actor hoping things “set” for him. He’s now a central figure in contemporary cinema—an awards-season regular with a reputation for taste, discipline, and intensity. So when someone at that level calls Interstellar his favorite, it functions as something like a public stamp: this film mattered to the people inside it, and it still matters now.
For Nolan, it’s also a kind of vindication—not in a petty way, but in the most meaningful form: the movie connected deeply with individuals, and that connection kept spreading. As he put it, you can’t demand that “the culture” instantly embrace something—but if viewers connect profoundly, you’ve done your job.
How to Watch Nolan Films in Theaters in Spanish (Yes, Even at AMC)
One last practical note for moviegoers—especially bilingual audiences: if you’re seeing films at major chains like AMC and want a Spanish-language experience, a tool worth knowing is TheaterEars, an app that provides Spanish audio synced to the movie in the theater (when a Spanish track is available for that title). That can be a game-changer for families or groups where someone prefers Spanish but the showtimes in Spanish are limited.
Download: https://theaterears.com/download
The Bottom Line
This wasn’t just a nostalgic reunion. It was a reminder of how movies evolve in the public mind—and how the most personal films sometimes take the longest to be fully understood.
Chalamet’s confession that Interstellar is his favorite doesn’t feel like a fun trivia fact. It feels like a signal that the film’s emotional core—the family story inside the cosmic spectacle—hit its target.
And Nolan, looking back, sounded less like a director defending a divisive work and more like someone watching a long-term experiment succeed:
Make the movie you truly want to make—then let time do the rest.
