Christopher Nolan 'begged' David Bowie to star in 'The Prestige'

Christopher Nolan recently opened up about working with David Bowie on The Prestige, 2006 film.

Bowie, who stepped back from acting at the time, initially declined Nolan's offer to play Nicola Tesla in the film, according to Entertainment Weekly.

"At some point it occurred to me that Tesla was the original Man Who Fell To Earth. As someone who was the biggest Bowie fan in the world, once I made that connection, he seemed to be the only actor capable of playing the part. He had that requisite iconic status, and he was a figure as mysterious as Tesla needed to be," Nolan shared.

Nolan added, "I petitioned to let me explain why he was the right actor for it. In total honesty, I told him if he didn’t agree to do the part, I had no idea where I would go from there. I would say I begged him."

However, Bowie eventually accepted the offer. Nolan highlighted Bowie's impact, saying, "he had a level of charisma beyond what you normally experience, and everyone really responded to it."

"I’ve never seen a crew respond to any movie star that way, no matter how big. But he was very gracious and understood the effect he had on people. Everyone has fond memories of getting to spend time with him or speak to him for a little bit. I only worked with him briefly—four or five days—but I did manage to sneak a couple moments to chat with him, which are very treasured memories of mine," Nolan shared.