Cast and Characters (The Prestige) The Prestige

Principal Cast

Robert Angier / Lord Caldlow — Hugh Jackman

An American-born showman performing in London under the stage name "The Great Danton." Angier is the better performer but the lesser magician -- natural charisma compensating for a lack of original invention. After his wife Julia drowns during a water-tank escape, he devotes his life to destroying Alfred Borden and surpassing his rival's Transported Man trick. That obsession leads him to Nikola Tesla's duplication machine, which he uses to create the perfect illusion at the cost of drowning a copy of himself every night.

Jackman also plays Gerald Root, an alcoholic actor hired as Angier's double for an earlier version of the trick. Nolan cast Jackman for his understanding of the relationship between performer and live audience:

"Both of them are very good magicians. Borden is kind of a genius magician, ultimately better than my character. But my character is much more a natural showman." — Hugh Jackman, Empire (2006)

Jackman based his portrayal of Angier on 1950s magician Channing Pollock. (wikipedia)

Alfred Borden / Bernard Fallon — Christian Bale

A working-class English magician performing as "The Professor." Borden is the superior technician but a poor showman, awkward on stage and unable to sell his tricks to an audience. His greatest illusion -- The Transported Man -- is achieved not through machinery but through the oldest secret in magic: he and his identical twin have shared one life since childhood, alternating as "Borden" and as "Fallon," his ingenieur. The arrangement demands that each twin live only half a life, and it destroys both their marriages and ultimately costs one twin his life on the gallows.

Bale pursued the role after working with Nolan on Batman Begins, obtaining the script before production and reading Christopher Priest's novel despite Nolan's suggestion otherwise:

"I was attracted particularly to Borden because he's quite an awkward character who's uncomfortable in front of an audience." — Christian Bale, Empire (2006)

John Cutter — Michael Caine

A stage engineer -- an ingenieur -- who designs and builds magic apparatus. Cutter works first with Milton, then with Angier, serving as mentor, conscience, and narrator. His opening and closing voiceover frames the film in the language of magic: the pledge, the turn, the prestige. Cutter is the only character who sees the full cost of both magicians' obsessions, and his attempt to stop Angier comes too late. Caine previously collaborated with Nolan and Bale on Batman Begins. (wikipedia)

Olivia Wenscombe — Scarlett Johansson

Angier's stage assistant, sent to spy on Borden, who instead falls in love with him. Olivia functions as a pawn traded between the two magicians -- each uses her as an instrument of espionage, and neither values her beyond her utility. She eventually disappears from the story when neither magician has further use for her. (wikipedia)

Nikola Tesla — David Bowie

The Serbian-American inventor, living in exile in Colorado Springs, who builds the duplication machine for Angier. Tesla functions less as a character than as a mythic figure -- the man whose real inventions were strange enough to make fictional ones plausible. His warning to Angier to destroy the machine goes unheeded.

Nolan considered no one else for the role and personally flew to New York to convince Bowie after an initial refusal:

"David Bowie, who I've been a fan of since I was a kid, seemed absolutely perfect for [Nikola]. He was the original Man Who Fell to Earth." — Christopher Nolan, Entertainment Tonight (2016)

"When someone's right, you find yourself unable to imagine doing it any other way." — Christopher Nolan, Entertainment Tonight (2016)

This was Bowie's final major film role before his death in January 2016. (wikipedia)

Sarah Borden — Rebecca Hall

Borden's wife, who senses that her husband is sometimes a different person -- because he literally is. Sarah's growing suspicion that Borden is unfaithful and inconsistent drives her to suicide. She is the character who pays the highest price for the twins' deception without ever being told the truth. Hall relocated from North London to Los Angeles for filming. (wikipedia)

Julia McCullough — Piper Perabo

Angier's wife and Milton's assistant, who drowns during a water-tank escape when Borden ties a knot she cannot slip. Her death is the inciting incident for the entire feud. (wikipedia)

Mr. Alley — Andy Serkis

Tesla's loyal assistant in Colorado Springs, a gatekeeper who screens Angier before granting access to his employer. Serkis described Alley as "once a corporation man" drawn to Tesla's maverick nature. (wikipedia)

Supporting Cast

Actor	Role
Ricky Jay	Milton, older magician employing both protagonists
Roger Rees	Owens, solicitor for Lord Caldlow
W. Morgan Sheppard	Merrit, theater owner
Daniel Davis	Judge at Borden's trial
Samantha Mahurin	Jess Borden
Edward Hibbert	Ackerman
Chao-Li Chi	Chung Ling Soo

Magic Consultants

Real-life magician and sleight-of-hand artist Ricky Jay, along with magic consultant Michael Weber, trained Jackman and Bale in stage illusions. They taught only what was needed for each shot, withholding broader technique:

"We didn't learn as much as you'd think... I couldn't show you anything." — Hugh Jackman, JoBlo (2006)

"We've got nothing we can do at a party -- our kids keep asking to do them a magic trick." — Hugh Jackman, JoBlo (2006)