Cillian Murphy and Christopher Nolan have forged a powerful partnership over the years. From films like The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, Dunkirk, and now to Oppenheimer, the actor-director duo has succeeded in giving audiences many critically acclaimed films and commercial blockbusters. In Nolan’s upcoming period biopic, Murphy takes on his most challenging role yet, as scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who led the Manhattan Project during World War 2 and ultimately created the atomic bomb.
Cillian Murphy is known to invest wholeheartedly in his characters and deliver every nuance that is required. Oppenheimer though, proved to be a different and tougher beast. After being mentally drained and extremely challenged, the talented actor had to isolate himself from the cast members to get back to sanity.
Oppenheimer Took A Toll On Cillian Murphy
Emotion can affect the most intense and powerful actors and Cillian Murphy realized that after his performance in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. The Inception star portrayed his most complex role yet and the huge responsibility to do justice to the character took a big toll on him. According to his co-star Matt Damon, Murphy was so invested in and affected by the character that he was unable to join the other cast members for a celebratory dinner at the end of the filming. Murphy for his part, tried to explain his predicament and the wave of emotions that swept over him.
“You know that when you have those big roles, that responsibility, you feel it’s kind of overwhelming.”
The Dunkirk star who is a self-confessed Nolan loyalist, said that despite knowing the kind of complicated narratives and characters that the director is famous for, he was desperate to be part of a Nolan project to carry on their professional relationship of over 20 years.
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Cillian Murphy Is In Awe Of Christopher Nolan And Oppenheimer
In Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy plays J. Robert Oppenheimer in the biopic that charts the story of how the theoretical physicist developed the world’s first nuclear bombs that were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. The Irish actor who will be seen in one of his most challenging roles yet, was effusive in his praise for the film and his director, stating that it was the best script he had ever read. Speaking of Nolan’s unique approach to tackling the character and the brief that was given to him, Murphy said,
“He wanted it to be solely from Oppenheimer’s perspective. And I think the film is sensational. As a person who loves films — I’m not saying it ’cos I’m in the f*****g thing, I hate looking at myself — but as a lover of film, as a cinephile, I’m a Chris Nolan fan,”
Cillian Murphy went on to add that The Dark Knight director’s ability to integrate the audience into the narrative despite working with complex themes and powerful personalities, made him stand apart as an artist.
Source: People
