Christopher Nolan is understood for impressed casting selections, and considered one of his most genius, unconventional castings was a supporting participant in The Prestige. Nolan blends surprising casting with deep character work, leading to performances that shock and captivate audiences and critics. For instance, the casting bulletins for each Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight and Harry Styles as Alex in Dunkirk have been met with skepticism, however the performances gained over audiences. Likewise, Bowie’s portrayal of Nikola Tesla in The Prestige stands out as considered one of Nolan’s greatest casting choices.

In actual life, Nikola Tesla was a Serbian engineer and inventor greatest identified for his pioneering work in electrical energy, a rival of Thomas Edison’s within the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In The Prestige, which facilities on the feud between two magicians, Bowie’s Tesla performs a small however pivotal position. The Prestige blurs the boundaries between magic and science, ardour and obsession, making David Bowie an intriguing alternative by Christopher Nolan to painting Tesla’s idiosyncratic genius. Before Tesla is formally launched in The Prestige, Tesla is described as “a wizard… someone who can actually do what magicians pretend to do.”

David Bowie As Nikola Tesla Was Very Inspired Casting By Christopher Nolan

Bowie Doesn’t Have A Lot Of Screen Time But Steals The Show

Nolan’s model of Tesla should make an affect with restricted display time, solely about 10 minutes interspersed all through The Prestige‘s two-hour run time. Tesla should convey intelligence, eccentricity, and magnetism with out laborious speeches, and therein lies the brilliance of Bowie’s casting. Bowie inherently brings a way of otherworldliness and gravitas. Tesla, in actual life and in The Prestige, pushed the boundaries of science, and Bowie has a pure affiliation with futurism and expertise via his music and persona. Without the necessity for speechifying, Bowie makes Tesla a compelling character.

The Prestige is considering futurism, clouding the road between science and magic. Tesla tells a annoyed Angier that even “exact science is not an exact science.” Tesla cautions Angier that humanity solely accepts adjustments in small increments, and Tesla’s phrases are confirmed true when Angier debuts his new closing “trick” to a theater booker utilizing Tesla’s accomplished machine, and the booker says: “it’s rare to see real magic. You’ll have to dress it up. Disguise it. Give them enough reason to doubt it.”

David Bowie’s Tesla Is One Of The Reasons Why Nolan’s The Prestige Works So Well

The Star Helped Sell The Illusion, Literally

Nolan’s Tesla in The Prestige is sensible however morally ambiguous. Tesla is keen to assist Hugh Jackman’s Robert Angier on his quest even whereas warning him in opposition to the hazard of letting an obsession take management. Tesla is clever to the purpose of close to omniscience, having already began engaged on the machine Angier was about to fee. Bowie’s enigmatic presence sells Tesla as a misunderstood genius.

Bowie performs Tesla virtually like a wizard, which works given The Prestige‘s final clone twist. Tesla is the enigmatic linchpin of The Prestige, and David Bowie is the right alternative to assist promote the phantasm that makes your entire film work. Without Bowie’s inexplicable accent and unmatched charisma, The Prestige wouldn’t be the identical. As Bowie’s Tesla writes to Angier: “The truly extraordinary is not permitted in science and industry. Perhaps you’ll find more luck in your field [of magic], where people are happy to be mystified.”