Trivia / The Prestige

• Acting for Two:
  • Christian Bale portrays both Alfred Borden and his twin, as well as Fallon, which is one of the twins in disguise.
  • Jackman plays both Robert Angier and his double, Root. As well as all his clones.
• All-Star Cast: Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Scarlett Johansson, Michael Caine, Andy Serkis, and David Bowie.
• California Doubling:
  • Los Angeles was used for England in most of the scenes set there.
  • Played with for the Angier storyline, as Angier's trip to Colorado was filmed in Colorado, however, the town of Telluride in the southwest part of the state is standing in for Colorado Springs, due to being an old mining town with more buildings left over from the 1890s time period, compared to Colorado Springs (which has become a modernized city of its own), and it would take less work to disguise the environments.
• Creator-Chosen Casting: Christopher Nolan only had David Bowie in mind for Nikola Tesla "because his function in the story is a small but very important role". Bowie initially declined the role, but Nolan flew out to him personally to tell him that he was the only person he imagined for the role, and that his larger than life persona would make the idea of Tesla building a cloning device believable. Upon hearing this, he changed his mind.
• Dawson Casting: Nikola Tesla was in his mid forties at the time the story is set while David Bowie was fifty-nine when he played the part.
• Dueling Movies: One of two period pieces that focus on magicians to come out in 2006 (along with The Illusionist (2006), which is actually quite different). Both films even had magician Ricky Jay as a magic consultant!
  • Christopher Priest was also not happy with both films being released in the same year as he is friends with the author who wrote the short story that became The Illusionist. Initially Christopher Nolan had planned on making The Prestige before Batman Begins but that film ended up taking priority.
• Dueling-Stars Movie: Unlike some films which use this trope, the chemistry between Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale is excellent.
• Fake American: These too.
  • Aussie Hugh Jackman as the American Angier. He's actually a Fake Brit, Lord Caldlow, pretending to be an American.
  • Andy Serkis, a Londoner, plays Alley with an excellent New York accent.
• Fake Brit: Lots.
  • Scarlett Johansson got some criticism for her accent as Olivia Wenscombe. Some theorize that the character is an American poorly faking a British accent, especially since the other actors clearly have had some vocal coaching.
  • Daniel Davis of The Nanny, using the exact same accent as he did in said show. ^note He had previously used that very same accent as Moriarty in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
  • Piper Perabo as Angier's wife Julia.
• Fake Nationality: David Bowie (British) as Nikola Tesla (Croatian [Austrian Empire]-born ethnic Serb and naturalized U.S. citizen).
• Irony as She Is Cast:
  • Ricky Jay, the film's magic consultant, plays an unremarkable stage magician.
  • Of all people, sex symbol David Bowie plays the celibate Tesla (worth noting that Tesla was bit of a sex symbol in his time, despite being celibate, and even dated Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress of the day).
• Playing Against Type: Hugh Jackman has made a career of playing handsome nice guys, or playing a clawed mutant that is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold. Here he plays a Villain Protagonist on a Protagonist Journey to Villain.
• Playing Their Own Twin: Hugh Jackman plays both Angier and Root, who is Angier's double. Christian Bale turns out to be doing this too.
• Promoted Fanboy: Andy Serkis, a big fan of David Bowie, enjoyed his experience of working with him very much.
• Star-Making Role: This film is Rebecca Hall's breakout role.
• Throw It In!: Rebecca Hall ad-libbed the "I know what you are" line. She initially felt terrible about it, fearing she was giving away the ending. But the director liked it and left it in. Bale seems to have some Enforced Method Acting as Borden is stunned and immediately explodes.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Sam Mendes expressed interest in directing. But the original author wanted Christopher Nolan, having loved Following and Memento.
  • Jude Law was cast as one of the leads in 2004. He dropped out of the long-gestating I ♡ Huckabees to take this project because he was going through a divorce at the time and wanted a higher paying project to pay the settlement. The director of that film, David O. Russell, ran into Nolan at a party and put him in a headlock, demanding that he give him Law back. The next day, Nolan and Law spoke on the phone and mutually agreed that he should go back to Huckabees.
  • Josh Hartnett was considered for the part of Robert Angier.

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