Christopher Nolan Bans Ugg Boots on The Odyssey Filming Location, Here's Why

Christopher Nolan forbade the players from wearing Ugg shoes during the filming of The Odyssey. Not because he didn't like the model, but because the furry shoes were considered to be able to draw the players back into the modern world and make them out of the atmosphere of the film.

E! News quoted Wednesday, July 22, saying that the rule had also been applied by Nolan in the production of other films, including The Dark Knight Rises and Oppenheimer.

"I want to stay in that moment. I want the actors to stay in that moment," Nolan told Gayle King on CBS Mornings on July 20.

"For me, Ugg boots are a marker of modern life, even though it sounds silly."

Ugg is known for its thick boots with a cozy fur lining. Actors usually wear them outside of filming because they are more comfortable than costume shoes.

However, Nolan believes that the seemingly trivial object can make the player out of the atmosphere of the film world.

He likened it to someone eating a bag of chips off camera.

"There are certain things that immediately remind you that you are in the real world, not in the world we are trying to build for the actors," he said.

The rule also applies to Anne Hathaway during the filming of The Odyssey, a film set in ancient Greece which also stars Matt Damon.

Nolan insists he has no personal problems with Ugg. He understands that actors sometimes need comfortable footwear because costume shoes can be painful.

"Sometimes actors come in with big, furry, comfortable sandals," Nolan said.

According to Nolan, the atmosphere of the shoot was filled with big cameras, microphones, and crews. However, Ugg can make the players remember the modern world.

Hathaway admitted that he had experienced the ban firsthand.

"I came in one day wearing Ugg, and he looked down and said, 'No,'" Hathaway said with a laugh in an interview with USA Today on July 13.

"I just said, 'It's fine.' After that, I never wore it again."

Matt Damon, who was present in the interview, then joked, "He hates Ugg more than anything."

Emily Blunt also experienced a similar incident while filming Oppenheimer in 2022.

Blunt said the atmosphere was similar to a scene in The Devil Wears Prada.

"He has a real problem with Ugg boots. It's a serious problem," Blunt joked on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2024.

"I walked in wearing it one day. He just stared at the shoe. I said, 'Chris, come on.' Then he said, 'Take it off.'"