King Charles has shared a rare insight into his film tastes and weighed in on the “Barbenheimer” dilemma, expressing his admiration for the hit film ‘Oppenheimer’, much to the delight of its director Christopher Nolan and producer Emma Thomas.

The monarch shared his thoughts during a personal conversation with the couple as they were honoured at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday. Last year, Thomas made history by becoming the first British woman to clinch the Oscar for Best Picture as ‘Oppenheimer’ swept through various award ceremonies.

Both she and her husband Nolan, aged 54, have now been awarded a damehood and knighthood respectively for their contributions to cinema. Emma Thomas, 53, revealed to the press: “He’d seen Oppenheimer, and he liked it, so that was very gratifying to hear.”

Reflecting on their chat with the monarch, Nolan commented: “It was very nice that he knew our work and was aware of it, and, yes, he was hoping that I would take this as encouragement to do more of it.”

Thomas has been the producer behind all of Nolan’s films, including the acclaimed ‘Inception’ in 2010 and ‘Interstellar’ in 2014. Their biographical drama about J Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist who led the Los Alamos Laboratory during the development of the atomic bomb, earned them their first Oscars for Best Picture and a Bafta for Best Film, reports the Mirror.

Thomas added: “What I was really thrilled by is the fact that I’ve heard anecdotally since about lots of younger people having their first experience of this story on the big screen, and then delving deeper and doing more of their own research into the events that we portrayed.”

The power duo behind some of the biggest blockbusters in Hollywood, Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas, share not just a marriage and four children but also a romance that blossomed during their time at University College London (UCL). With a shared passion for filmmaking ignited at the university’s film society—where Nolan was president and made short films—the couple has been inseparable.

Reflecting on their journey, Nolan imparted words of wisdom for aspiring filmmakers: “Find a good partner. We met on the first day of university at UCL and we’ve been making films ever since.

“The only other useful advice I’ve really thought of is to stick to your guns. If you have something unique to say, just keep at it and try to find an outlet for that.”

Together, the pair established Syncopy, a production company that has served as the launching pad for many iconic movies. Nolan credits their partnership as being “incredibly important”, noting that together they “achieve so much more together than we would have been able to individually”.