UPDATE, 1/8/24 at 3:12 p.m. ET:
Christopher Nolan has heard Peloton instructor Jenn Sherman’s apology, but he isn’t sure when he’s getting back on the bike.
“Nothing but love for the Peloton, but I did not climb on it today, this is true,” the director told a room full of reporters at the Golden Globes on Sunday, January 7, after his film Oppenheimer took home the Best Motion Picture — Drama award. “I might just skip it for a little while, but thank you for your concern.”
Original story continues below:
The Peloton instructor who critiqued one of Christopher Nolan’s films is speaking out — and has a message for the director.
“Huge day for me when I come to find out that the one and only Christopher Nolan, one of the leading filmmakers of the 21st century knows who the hell I am,” Jenn Sherman said via Instagram on Friday, January 5. “I was excited, and then I read the article.”
Sherman, 54, explained that the class was from 2020, which she called “a dark time,” and she was “running [her] mouth” like she’s “known to do.”
“I make a random comment about a movie I had seen the night before,” she said. “What do you think the odds are that the director of said movie would take that ride some four years later? Yeah, that would only happen to me.”
She continued: “So here’s what I want to say. I may not have understood a minute of what was going on in Tenet, that s–t went right over my head. But I have seen Oppenheimer twice, and that’s six hours of my life that I don’t ever want to give back.”
Sherman ended her message by extending an invitation to Nolan to take a ride with her in the Peloton studio.
“You can critique my class, we’ll have a great time, you’ll sit in the front row and I promise you it will be insult free,” she said. “Let me know, take me up on it.”
At the New York Film Critics Circle awards on Wednesday, January 3, Nolan received the Best Director prize for his film Oppenheimer and told the funny story of his workout being interrupted by an unwelcome film review during his speech.
“I was on my Peloton. I’m dying. And the instructor started talking about one of my films and said, ‘Did anyone see this? That’s a couple hours of my life I’ll never get back again!’” he said.
Nolan continued to wax poetic about his love of film criticism — something that social media has changed where anyone can give their opinions on film. He continued about his Peloton criticism, “When [film critic] Rex Reed takes a s–t on your film he doesn’t ask you to work out! In today’s world, where opinions are everywhere, there is a sort of idea that film criticism is being democratized, but I for one think the critical appreciation of films shouldn’t be an instinct, but it should be a profession.”
Nolan noted he has an appreciation for film criticism, which can be fraught for directors, although he clearly doesn’t prefer it with a side of sweat. When he’s not on his Peloton, he usually gets a bit of warning if a bad review awaits. “A question we’re always asked is: ‘Do we read reviews?’ Let’s start with the fact that I’m British,” he said. “A typical family gathering will involve relatives saying to me, ‘You know, Christopher, you probably shouldn’t open The Guardian today.’”
While Nolan didn’t give any details about which Peloton instructor it was or what classes he prefers, Us was hoping it was the Movie Buff (a.k.a. specific movie-themed rides). He also didn’t disclose which of his 12 movies wasted his instructor’s couple hours.
It would’ve come as a surprise if it was his latest movie, Oppenheimer, which released in July 2023, was it as the movie received mostly positive response. The star studded historical epic followed J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) who helmed the Manhattan Project with a group of scientists to create the atomic bomb. The film grossed over $955 million dollars worldwide and combined with the same weekend release as Barbie — the Barbenheimer double feature became a cultural phenomenon.
Oppenheimer has also been holding its own critically with glowing reviews from film critics and going forward into awards season, it has been nominated for eight Golden Globes including Best Picture, Drama.
