20 Things You Didn't Know About Interstellar

7. The Dust Storms Were Created Using Biodegradable Cardboard

Interstellar ship
Warner Bros. Pictures

Early in the movie, we learn that dust storms have been making people's lives hell, as evidenced when Cooper drives his kids through town after the baseball game.

Presumably, these storms would've been easy to create using digital effects, but Nolan being Nolan, he decided to go with a more practical approach.

In an interview to promote the film, actress Jessica Chastain discussed what it was like to film in these dusty environments, while also mentioning that the realistic look of the storms was achieved by using a biodegradable cardboard material:

"In every scene that I was outside, I was having chunks of dust tossed at my face. It was a biodegradable material that was made out of cardboard, but still not a fun thing. But I loved every minute of it."

Definitely sounds unpleasant, but also an effective way to immerse your actors in the harsh reality of this world.

Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.