John David Washington Praises Christopher Nolan's Patience for 'Tenet' Cast's Story Questions

As theories abound regarding Christopher Nolan's upcoming 'Tenet,' John David Washington would like to take a moment to praise him for being patient.

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As surely expected by anyone who's ever encountered a Christopher Nolan film before, the director is promising "great ambition and great scale" with his newest entry Tenet, which is currently still slated for a summer release despite COVID-19.

In an interview with Total Film, Nolan teased what audiences had to look forward to in terms of his take on pushing the traditional spy genre into fresh terrain.

"It's a film of great ambition and great scale that takes a genre, namely the spy film, and tries to take it into some new territory, and tries to take the audience on a ride they might not have had before, and might not be expecting," he said. Audiences, Nolan added, should enter their first viewing expecting to have the conventions of the spy genre utilized in a decidedly Nolan-esque way. 

"We're looking at first and foremost giving the audience an incredible ride in the spy movie genre, but using the audience's facility with following the conventions of that genre to push it into some interesting and unexpected territory," he said.

Naturally, this approach spawned some constant questioning from the film's cast, which includes John David Washington and recent self-photographed GQ cover star Robert Pattinson. In a Comicbook-spotted chat released last week, Washington addressed this reality of shooting, which was complicated by a bit of time inversion.

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According to Washington, he had daily questions for the director, who handled the task with care.

"But he was very gracious, and he answered them very calmly and patiently," Washington said. "It was important that the actors could track the story correctly so we could tell it the best way we could, and he was very patient with us. I say that very politely."

For the moment, the Tenet team is still pushing for a July 17 release. Stay tuned.

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