Christopher Nolan denies Ann Hathaway's claim he bans chairs on sets

Christopher Nolan does not ban chairs on his movie sets and allows the cast and crew to sit wherever and whenever they want, contrary to what Anne Hathaway claimed.

Kelly Bush Novak of ID, a spokesperson for the famed director, contradicted the actress' claims on the banned chairs. In a statement sent to Indiewire, she wrote: "For the record, the only things banned from sets are cell phones (not always successfully) and smoking (very successfully)."

Novak also clarified that the chairs Hathaway referred to are the "directors chairs clustered around the video monitor, allocated on the basis of hierarchy not physical need." She said that Nolan even "chooses not to use his but has never banned chairs from the set." She added that the "cast and crew can sit wherever and whenever they need and frequently do."

Hathaway, who has starred in two of Nolan's films, "Interstellar" and "The Dark Knight Rises," where she played Catwoman, said in a recent interview with Hugh Jackman for Variety's Actors on Actors issue, that the director bans chairs so people do not lax about.

"Chris also doesn't allow chairs. I worked with him twice. He doesn't allow chairs, and his reasoning is, if you have chairs, people will sit, and if they're sitting, they're not working," she added after Jackman pointed out that Nolan prohibits cell phones on his sets.

"I mean, he has these incredible movies in terms of scope and ambition and technical prowess and emotion. It always arrives at the end under schedule and under budget. I think he's onto something with the chair thing," Hathaway added.

Hathaway's interview prompted colleagues to speak up in support of Nolan. "Mandy" co-writer Aaron Stewart-Ahn, who was an extra on "The Dark Knight Rises," tweeted that there were plenty of chairs and tables on the set.

Likewise, journalists Jeff Jensen and Gregory Ellwood contradicted Hathaway's claim. They revealed that there were chairs when they visited the set of "The Dark Knight Rises." Jensen also saw chairs on the "Interstellar" set.