Christopher Nolan Is a Huge ‘Fast & Furious’ Fan

It turns out that Christopher Nolan loves the Fast & Furious franchise as much as we all do, but even he doesn’t understand the series’ convoluted timeline. The Oppenheimer director appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Wednesday night, where he gave the uninitiated host an impromptu briefing on Dominic Toretto and his extensive family.

Colbert asked Nolan about his “guilty pleasures,” to which the Best Director Oscar-nominee responded, “I have no guilt about being a fan of Fast and Furious. [It’s] a tremendous action franchise,” he enthused.

When Colbert revealed that he’s never watched even one of the 10 installments, Nolan couldn’t contain his shock. “You’ve never seen any of them?” the director stressed.

Nolan is known for making high-octane action movies like The Dark Knight, Inception, and Tenet, which are considered more prestigious than your average F&F installment, albeit equally confusing. But both he and the F&F franchise share a love for extensive stunt sequences which often rely on practical effects, so one can see why Nolan would appreciate the series.

“I watch those movies all the time,” Nolan continued to Colbert. “I love them! I am amazed you’ve never seen one,” he reiterated. The director then began briefing Colbert on franchise mythology, telling him it’s not necessary to rush through his viewing experience.

“You do not need to watch them all in one sitting,” Nolan warned in a schoolmasterly tone. “It’s only the last few [installments] where a very specific arc of mythology starts to develop.”

The Memento director then recommended Colbert a starting point in the series. Showing just how much Nolan loves the franchise, his pick for a first-watch is the least-appreciated installment in the series.

“I would start with [part three] Tokyo Drift,” Nolan boldly stated, “and just watch that as its own thing, to warm you up.”

“It happens before the others, doesn’t it?” Colbert asked.

“Not before,” Nolan corrected, “but…oh, yes, it is before,” he realized.

The director admitted to getting caught up in the “temporal paradox” of the Fast franchise, which is honestly fair enough. Tokyo Drift takes place (seriously) between the final scene of Fast 6 and that film’s credits. The end of part six is considered by fans to be one of the franchise’s best moments, when Jason Statham is introduced as the primary villain and retroactively revealed to have killed a beloved Tokyo Drift character.

“I was gonna say something about the end of Tokyo Drift, but it’s a spoiler, so maybe you should see it,” Nolan teased Colbert, as excited as any F&F fan to discuss one of the best twists in cinema history.

Colbert seemed moved by Nolan’s devotion, inviting the director to marathon the series with him. “I think I should try to understand more about the country that I talk about every day,” Colbert explained, “and I really don’t think I can do that honestly without watching the Fast and Furious franchise.”