John Lithgow Joins Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar

By Rudie Obias | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

john lithgowChristopher Nolan movies have featured world-class ensemble casts since his major studio debut film Insomnia in 2002. Nolan has repeatedly surrounded himself with the very best Hollywood has to offer, including actors Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, and Leonardo DiCaprio. For the director’s upcoming science fiction film Interstellar, Nolan has lined up a new cast featuring returning favorites and brand-new faces, which include the recently cast Ellen Burstyn and Jessica Chastain. Now it appears actor John Lithgow will be signing on for Interstellar as well.

According to The Wrap, the 67-year-old actor will play an unspecified role in Nolan’s next, which is due in theaters in November 2014. It’s no surprise that there’s no word who Lithgow will play in the science fiction film, but the cast already includes Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Casey Affleck, Michael Caine, Bill Irwin, Timothee Chalamet, and Mackenzie Foy.

Almost nothing has been revealed about film’s premise, but it is said to be based on the writings of theoretical physicist/astrophysicist Kip Thorne, who mostly deals with black hole cosmology, gravitational waves, and theoretical time travel. Interstellar is described as “a heroic interstellar voyage to the farthest borders of our scientific understanding.” Interstellar will supposedly follow a brave group of space explorers who travel through a wormhole and into another dimension.

John Lithgow is simply one of the greatest American actors working in Hollywood today. He recently appeared in the latest film from Judd Apatow, This Is 40, but is most recognizable as Reverend Shaw Moore in Footloose, and the alien Dick Solomon on the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun. Lithgow has won five Emmy Awards throughout his career, most notably for the aforementioned 3rd Rock from the Sun, and recently won a Golden Globe for his killer performance as Arthur Mitchell on Showtime’s Dexter. Science fiction genre fans might also remember John Lithgow as Charles Rodman, Dr. Will Rodman’s (James Franco) Alzheimer’s-stricken father from Rise of the Planet of the Apes, or as Dr. Walter Curnow in the underrated 2010.

As for Interstellar, this is the first science fiction film Christopher Nolan has made since the Academy Award-nominated Inception in 2010. Interstellar is also the first movie for Christopher Nolan that will not be under the Warner Bros. banner since his indie breakout film Memento in 2000. Nolan plans to push the boundaries of the IMAX format with Interstellar, and it’s rumored he might shoot up to 90 minutes of the film’s running time in the glorious IMAX format. It’s also going to be very interesting to see what Nolan can do after the amazing success of The Dark Knight trilogy, and without longtime collaborator Wally Pfister.

Pfister left his work as a cinematographer to set out on a new career as a film director. His debut film Transcendence stars Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Morgan Freeman, Kate Mara, Paul Bettany, Cillian Murphy, Cole Hauser, and Clifton Collins, Jr. Transcendence is due in theaters in April 2014, seven months before Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar.

Christopher Nolan co-wrote the screenplay for Interstellar with his writing partner and brother Jonathan, and is producing it with his producing partner/wife Emma Thomas. Lynda Obst will also produce the science fiction film and Christopher Nolan is set to, obviously, direct.

Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar will hit theaters everywhere on November 7, 2014, in IMAX.