‘Dark Knight’ trilogy director Christopher Nolan to speak on Class Day

Acclaimed British-American film director Christopher Nolan will be the Class Day speaker this year, the Class of 2015 Council announced Friday.

Nolan is widely known for directing “Interstellar,” which was released last month, as well as the latest “Dark Knight” trilogy, “Inception” and “Memento.” He has been nominated for three Academy Awards.

He graduated from University College London with a degree in English Literature.

According to an email sent to the senior class, Nolan has been making films since he was 7 years old and is known for his “unconventional story lines” and “innovative filmmaking.”

“While his films have entertained us and captivated us for the past 20 years, they have, more importantly, made us think,” the Class Council wrote in the email. “Regardless of our majors and our interests, we all share several things in common: our purpose, our passion, and our mission to do things differently.”

The three members of the senior class who are part of the Class Day committee that chose Nolan as the speaker included Adam Tcharni ’15, Evan Coles ’15 and Hanna Kim ’15.

“We wanted someone who was going to be an entertaining speaker,” Tcharni said.

He explained that they were looking for a speaker who has excelled in their field and who has made an impact on the world with their work. After a long process, Tcharni said that the group decided that Nolan best fit the description of the type of speaker for whom it was looking.

“We’re all striving to make an impact on the world,” Tcharni said. “We thought we’d learn from someone who has been doing that so much lately with their work.”

Coles and Kim did not respond to requests for comment.

Last year, former Vice President Al Gore spoke during Class Day. Previous speakers have included David Remnick ’80, Steve Carrell and Brooke Shields ’87.

Class Day will take place on June 1, the day between the Commencement and Baccalaureate ceremonies.