Cillian Murphy says it was a “tremendous shock” to star in ‘Oppenheimer’
On July 21st, 2023, cinemas worldwide welcomed the release of Oppenheimer, a biopic delving deep into the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, often referred to as the “father of the atomic bomb”.
Taking on the titular role was Cillian Murphy. The talented actor recently revealed that he was taken aback when approached by acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan for the part.
“In typical Chris fashion, there was no pre-amble or no sense that he might have been writing something,” Murphy shared. “He just called me out of the blue, and he said, in his very understated British way, that he’s making this film about Oppenheimer, and he’d like me to play Oppenheimer. So that was a tremendous shock, a very pleasant one, but a shock nonetheless.”
In an interview with Deadline, Murphy expanded on his initial reaction and journey with the character. “I didn’t know that much about Oppenheimer; I had kind of like Wikipedia-level knowledge about him at the time, and then Chris said it’s based off of this book.”
Murphy detailed their unique script reading arrangement while navigating the ongoing pandemic’s challenges: “He was in LA, and I was in Dublin, and it was still Covid times. I couldn’t get out of Ireland, so he came to Dublin, and he gave me the script, and I sat in his hotel room and read it.”
“It genuinely was one of the best screenplays I’d ever read,” Murphy enthused, “and it was written in the first person, which is not something I’d ever experienced before, so that was terrifying.”
Since the early preview screenings, Murphy has been singled out and praised for his performance, with Nolan calling him “one of the best actors of his generation.” Oppenheimer is playing in theatres now.
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