On the contrary, Nolan had never worked with Hugh Jackman before, pictured here with Scarlett Johannson. "Hugh came on board before Christian, actually. He just seemed to embody exactly the balance we needed between having that sense of integrity of the classic leading man and this great authentic stage showmanship that the magician Rupert Angier has to have."
"As opposed to Christian's character, he has a wonderful understanding of the interaction between performer and live audience, which Hugh actually has. And he also has great depths as an actor that I think hadn't really been explored."
In the case of music icon David Bowie, who had a song in Memento, the British filmmaker took it upon himself to convince his admired musician/actor to accept a small but key role in The Prestige -- that of scientist / electrical pioneer Nikolai Tesla.
"He was the only guy I ever had in mind to play Tesla," says Nolan. "His function is small, but very important, and he really has an extraordinarily charismatic and noticeable presence. I wanted someone who wasn't a movie star. So I flew out to New York to meet him and told him that he had to do it, that I didn't have anyone else in mind who could play his role the way I saw it, and he responded immediately. David is pretty clear on what he does and doesn't want to do."
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