It doesn’t matter whether he holds his crew in the highest regard or if he’s so pleased by their talent that he chooses to work with the same actors every chance he gets, Christopher Nolan’s penchant for secrecy surpasses everything else. Tales of his clandestine filming procedures and reticent approaches have been narrated by numerous stars who’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with the esteemed filmmaker.

Christopher Nolan
From Sir Michael Caine to Liam Neeson, many have been on the other end of Nolan’s reserved tendencies when it comes to films. But perhaps the 52-year-old could’ve left a little leeway in the latter’s case, especially since Neeson agreed to work on a superhero movie despite his proclaimed dislike toward the same. Besides, a little trust goes a long way, doesn’t it?

The Dark Knight Films Were An Exception for Liam Neeson

If there’s one thing that Liam Neeson is known for, it’s his stellar action thrillers, the likes of which include the famous Taken series, Non-Stop, and Blacklight. But in the lengthy list of projects that he’s overtaken, superhero flicks are nowhere to be found save for Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Knight series. 

When he sat down with Rolling Stone for an interview not too long ago, Neeson, 71, revealed how the world of superheroes and immortal saviors held no allure for him whatsoever.

Liam Neeson
“I’ll be honest: All these superhero movies? I’m not a fan. I’m really not. I admire them because it’s Hollywood with all their bells and whistles and technology, which is phenomenal, but they all seem to me to be just the same story.”
The only reason why he was happily onboard for Nolan’s Batman franchise was thanks to the “noir feel” of the film that caught his attention coupled with a beautiful cast, and of course, the unmissable opportunity of joining forces with a filmmaker who is practically worshipped in Hollywood. But while the Ireland-born actor was able to take a leap of faith with Nolan involved, the same can’t be said for the Oppenheimer director.

Old Habits Die Hard

Especially if said habits involve being tight-lipped about movie scripts owing to a raging paranoia of leaked material that makes you want to safeguard it with your life. And well, Nolan has never really been one for blind trust.

So, when he brought back Neeson’s Ra’s al Ghul for the 2012 threequel after the actor’s performance in the first movie turned out to be a sight to behold, the Inception director outright refused to divulge any plot details. In fact, the Schindler’s List star had no idea he was reprising his role in The Dark Knight Rises as the supervillain up until that point.

Batman Begins (2005)
“[Nolan] takes it to another extreme — I didn’t know I was in the movie. I went and shot a scene for two hours with Christian Bale […] I said, ‘Chris, what am I doing?’ [Nolan said] ‘Um… well, just walk forward, and say the lines, walk back, and that’ll be it, really.’ I said, ‘What the f*ck? Tell me the story!’ [He said] ‘Um… I’d prefer not to, really.’”