Anecdotes for
The Prestige (2006) More at IMDb Pro »

• In the Bullet Catching Scene you can clearly see the name Harry Dresden on the list of performers under Christian Bale's "The Professor." Harry Dresden is a fictional wizard in a series of books, "The Dresden Files", by novelist 'Jim Butcher (I)'.
  
  
• Ricky Jay, who played a magician in the film, coached Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale in their sleight-of-hand techniques.
  
  
• Angier's double mumbles a few lines from a speech while rehearsing on stage before his first performance. What he's saying is actually the words of Harry Percy (Hotspur) from William Shakespeare's Henry IV, when called to appear before the king and explain his failure to turn over prisoners after a recent battle in Scotland. Apparently Hugh Jackman has used this speech in previous auditions. Presumably it was believed that having the double deliver a few lines from Shakespeare would lend him an actorly air, as his character is in fact a dissolute stage actor.
  
  

• Chung Ling Soo was a stage character created by a Caucasian American man, William Ellsworth Robinson, who disguised himself as a Chinese man to cash in on audiences' enthusiasm for the exotic. Robinson lived as Chung, never breaking character while in public. He died in March 1918 when a bullet catch trick went wrong. "My God, I've been shot" were both his last words and the first English he had spoken on stage in 19 years.
  
  
• The main characters' initials spell ABRA (Alfred Borden Robert Angier), as in Abracadabra, a common word used by magicians.
  
  
• Alfred Borden takes on the stage name of "The Professor". This is the nickname that was given to Dai Vernon, the man many consider to be the best modern day sleight of hand magician.
  
  
• Christopher Priest created the "Langford Double Knot" for the original novel as a tribute to his friend and business partner, the author David Langford.
  
  
• Sam Mendes had shown interest in adapting Christopher Priest's novel for the big-screen, but Priest insisted that Christopher Nolan direct the film, based on his love for both Following (1998) and Memento (2000).
  
  
• Borden's infant child is played by one of director Christopher Nolan's own children.
  
  
• Nikola Tesla was a real world-renowned inventor, physicist, and engineer. He did in fact at one point in time have a lab in Colorado Springs where he conducted electrical experiments. Besides being a brilliant scientist, he was also known for his eccentric behavior.
  
  
• Both lead actors Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman, have played superheros in Batman Begins (2005) and X-Men series, respectively.
  
  
• The actor Ricky Jay, who plays Milton the magician, also plays a magician called The Amazing Maleeni in the episode of "The X Files" (1993) by the same name. In the episode the tricks are performed by him and his twin.
  
  

• SPOILER: Sarah's line "I know what you are" was not in the script. Rebecca Hall said she felt that she had terribly screwed up and given away the ending of the film right after she had said it.
  
  
• SPOILER: In one of Christopher Nolan's favorite films, Blade Runner (1982), Deckard (Harrison Ford) gets 2 fingers broken by Roy, the ring finger and pinky finger. In the prestige, Borden gets the same 2 fingers blown off during the bullet catch.
  
  

Related Links