In which 2006 film did David Bowie portray inventor Nikola Tesla?

David Bowie portrayed inventor Nikola Tesla in Christopher Nolan’s 2006 film The Prestige. The role placed Bowie inside a dark Victorian-era rivalry between two competing stage magicians.

The film stars Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale as illusionists Robert Angier and Alfred Borden, whose professional competition becomes increasingly dangerous. In the story, Angier travels to Colorado Springs seeking Tesla’s help after becoming convinced that advanced science may explain Borden’s mysterious trick.

Bowie’s Tesla is a fictionalised version of the real Serbian-American inventor, known for his work on alternating current, induction motors, wireless transmission and high-voltage experiments. The film turns Tesla’s scientific reputation into part of its supernatural-looking mystery, while retaining the historical setting and Tesla’s association with experimental electricity.

The Prestige reunited Nolan with Bale and Michael Caine after Batman Begins. Bowie’s performance is brief but memorable, and the casting was widely noted because his own career had long connected music, technology, theatricality and reinvention. The film was adapted from Christopher Priest’s 1995 novel.