Christopher Nolan was impressed by Cillian Murphy’s performance in the upcoming magnum opus Oppenheimer. The director, however, was even more impressed when he saw Murphy’s scenes in the editing room.
Talking about an emotional depth that Cillian Murphy wasn’t simply telling what was in his eyes, Nolan was reminded of veteran actor Al Pacino. Recalling how Pacino had once told Christopher Nolan that he wasn’t able to see his acting, the director corrected his mistake by seeing what was going on in Cillian Murphy’s eyes.
Christopher Nolan Was In Awe of Cillian Murphy
With Murphy’s glorified performance as J. Robert Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan did not realize the full magnitude of the actor until much later when the film was shot. As per the director, Nolan saw the Peaky Blinders actor’s unsaid words when he was sitting in the editing room.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, The Dark Knight Trilogy director had nothing but praise for the actor. Revealing that Nolan saw something much greater than what was said by Murphy’s character, the director saw that Cillian Murphy’s eyes were also speaking some unsaid words far greater than his spoken words.
“The performance became all-enveloping when I realized Cillian had so much more going on than [what] I saw on set.”
The actor has indeed been complimented several times for his soul-gazing performances and it was also the reason Nolan picked him up for the role of Scarecrow for Batman Begins in 2005. With such an amazing performance, the director was reminded of Al Pacino and how he and Murphy were quite similar.
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Christopher Nolan Was Reminded of Al Pacino By Cillian Murphy
While working alongside Pacino in the 2002 film titled Insomnia, Nolan tried to give the actor some tips on how to perform better. Being a veteran actor, Pacino instead defended his acting skills by stating that Christopher Nolan wasn’t able to see beyond his eyes.
“I had gone up to Pacino after a series of takes and given him a note on what I wanted. He told me, ‘I’ve already done that. You can’t see it to the eye, but I’ve done it on the dailies.’ I looked for it and I was like, ‘Oh, my God,’ because there it was. Great film actors can do that, and that’s what I had with Cillian.”
With the release date of the movie nearing the horizon, fans are quite excited about the combination of Murphy and Nolan once more. Oppenheimer, starring Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, and Emily Blunt, is set for a release date of 21st July 2023 in theaters across the U.S.
Source: Variety
