Veteran actor James Remar is everywhere these days. The 71-year-old thesp has been working pretty much non-stop for nearly fifty years across film, television and gaming, but has had a sudden burst of several projects hitting at once.
Following his reprisal of his role of Dexter’s father, Harry Morgan, in “Dexter: Resurrection,” the actor is currently on screens as General Francis Shaw in HBO’s “IT: Welcome to Derry” and has a small role in Hulu’s “All’s Fair”.
He also spent a good chunk of this year working with Christopher Nolan on “The Odyssey,” his second time with the helmer following their previous collaboration on “Oppenheimer”.
One of the most famous stories about working with Nolan that first spread back in 2020 during the pandemic was that the director was not a fan of chairs on his film sets, to the point that it was rumoured chairs were actually banned from the set.
The ‘Chair-Gate’ talk got so bad that an official spokesperson for Nolan had to release a statement saying chairs weren’t banned from the set and Nolan “chooses not to use his” but plenty of cast and crew used them.
Now, speaking with THR the other day, Remar confirms that Nolan ain’t someone who sits down much when he’s working:
“[There’s] no cell phones on set, and the man never sits down. He stands next to the camera for every single shot. He did that in Iceland too. We were on the beach shooting in Iceland; I never saw him sit down once for 12 hours out there. Every single day. It was freezing. Everybody was freezing.”
Remar also says that despite all the talent on “The Odyssey,” the set was very work-oriented and there was zero room for egos:
“It was very collegial, very familiar, very much like a family. Everybody who was there offered everyone else a great deal of respect. It’s a very respectful, well-assembled cast. No silliness to speak of. Everyone was focused on the task at hand, because he comes with a vision, and every brush stroke of his vision is important. There are no hijinks. No fooling around. Nobody’s asleep. Nobody’s drunk. Nobody’s f—–ed up, pardon my language. Everyone was very, very concentrated on being the absolute best they could be.”
Remar also confirmed that once he wrapped “The Odyssey,” he shot his recurring role in “Line of Duty” creator Jed Mercurio’s new Netflix eight-part conspiracy thriller series “Trinity,” starring Richard Madden, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Marcia Gay Harden. Shooting on that series wraps this month ahead of a 2026 airing.
“The Odyssey” is set to hit cinemas next Summer.
