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A14 PEOPLE / ARTS
Friday 14 July 2023

Cillian Murphy, playing Oppenheimer, finally gets to lead a

Christopher Nolan film

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film As with all Nolan endeav-
Writer ors, secrecy around “Op-
Eds: UPDATES: Recasts hed. penheimer” is vitally im-
Resends a story that first portant. Murphy loves the
moved in May. With AP “old-fashioned approach”
Photos. Adds photos from that builds interest and an-
London premiere. ; AP Vid- ticipation.
eo. “There’s an awful lot to talk
The day Christopher No- about when we can talk
lan called Cillian Mur- freely,” Murphy said with a
phy about his new film, smile.
“Oppenheimer,” Murphy The difference from oth-
hung up the phone in dis- er Nolan originals, even
belief. “Dunkirk,” is that “Oppen-
The Irish actor, though a heimer” is rooted in histori-
regular presence in Nolan cal fact and actual tran-
films going back almost scripts. You can read the
two decades, had always book it’s based on, Kai Bird
been a supporting player. and Martin J. Sherwin’s Pu-
This time, Nolan wanted litzer Prize-winning “Ameri-
him to lead. can Prometheus: The Tri-
“He’s so understated and umph and Tragedy of J.
self-deprecating and, in Robert Oppenheimer.”
his very English manner, You can watch the 1981
just said, ‘Listen, I’ve writ- documentary “The Day Af-
ten this script, it’s about This image released by Universal Pictures shows Cillian Murphy as Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer in ter Trinity” on The Criterion
Oppenheimer. I’d like you a scene from “Oppenheimer,” left, and physicist Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer on the test ground Channel.
to be my Oppenheimer,’” for the atomic bomb near Alamogordo, N.M., on Sept. 9, 1945. Associated Press And you can try to parse
Murphy, 46, told The Associ- Nolan’s words for clues.
ated Press earlier this year. “Dunkirk.” Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and professionally. He’s of- He’s talked about recre-
“It was a great day.” “We have this long-stand- killing tens of thousands of fered me very interesting ating the Trinity test, the
For Murphy, it is never not ing understanding and people and leaving many roles over and I’ve found fascinating paradoxes,
exciting to get a call from trust and shorthand and re- with lifelong injuries. Soon, all of them really challeng- the twists, turns and ethi-
Nolan. It’s just hard to pre- spect,” Murphy said. “It felt the United States was at ing. And I just love being on cal dilemmas; for him, the
dict if he’s going to. He like the right time to take on work to strengthen its nu- his sets.” story is cinematic and both
knows there are some mov- a bigger responsibility. And clear arsenal, developing Murphy continued: “Any dream and nightmare. But
ies he’s right for and some it just so happened that it plans to work on an even actor would want to be ultimately, it’s something
movies he isn’t. was a fing huge one.” more catastrophic weap- on a Chris Nolan set, just that just needs to be seen.
“I have always said publicly Soon after the phone call, on: the hydrogen bomb. to see how it works and to “The question will be how
and privately, to Chris, that Nolan flew to Dublin to As Nolan has said, “Like it or witness his command of Chris presents it,” Murphy
if I’m available and you meet Murphy and hand not J. Robert Oppenheimer the language of film and said. “I think people will be
want me to be in a movie, him a physical copy of the is the most important per- the mechanics of film and very surprised and wowed
I’m there. I don’t really care script, which he devoured son who ever lived.” how he’s able to use that by what he does. Anything I
about the size of the part,” right there in Nolan’s hotel “Oppenheimer,” which broad canvas within the say will just seem a bit lame
he said. “But deep down, room. It was, he said, the opens in theaters on July mainstream studio system as compared to seeing this
secretly, I was desperate to best he’d ever read. 21, features a starry cast to make these very chal- in an IMAX theater.”
play a lead for him.” Then the scale of it started including Emily Blunt as Op- lenging human stories.” The time for discussions will
Murphy first met Nolan in to sink in. penheimer’s wife Kitty, Matt Over the years, Murphy has be after the movie comes
2003. He was brought in to This would be a film about Damon as the man who come to appreciate that out. But Murphy did offer
screen test for Batman not the charismatic and con- hired Oppenheimer for the with Nolan there’s always up that they worked hard
just the movie, the charac- troversial theoretical physi- job at Los Alamos, Robert something deeper to dis- to get Oppenheimer’s look
ter. Murphy knew he wasn’t cist who helped create Downey Jr. as a founder of cover than what’s literally right, from the narrow sil-
right for the Dark Knight, the atomic bomb. Op- the Atomic Energy Com- on the page. “Dunkirk,” he houette to the pipe and the
but he wanted to meet the penheimer and his peers mission and many more recalled, was only 70 pag- porkpie hat. Oppenheimer,
man who’d directed “In- at Los Alamos would test it rounding out the pivotal es and there wasn’t much he said, “seemed aware of
somnia” and “Memento.” on July 16, 1945, not know- players in and around this to his character, not even his own potential mytholo-
They hit it off and Murphy ing what was going to hap- tense moment in history. a name. gy.” But, again, those con-
got to tap into a sinister pen. There was a non-zero “You realize this is a huge “He said, ‘Look, let’s figure versations will have to wait.
intensity to play the cor- chance that the heat from responsibility. He was com- it out together and you and “I’m really proud of the
rupt psychiatrist Dr. Crane/ the explosion could set off a plicated and contradic- me can find an emotional movie and I’m really proud
Scarecrow, who would go chain reaction that would tory and so iconic,” Murphy journey for the character.’ of what Chris has achieved.
on to appear in all three ignite the atmosphere and said. “But you know you’re And we did it. We did it out This was, for sure, a special
films. Nolan would also call literally set the world on fire. with one of the great direc- in the water on that boat. one, certainly because
on Murphy to be the con- It didn’t, but several weeks tors of all time. I felt confi- That comes from trust and of the history with me and
flicted heir to a business later the United States dent going into it with Chris. respect,” Murphy said. “I’m Chris. We were not walking
empire in “Inception” and would drop those bombs He’s had a profound im- really proud of that perfor- around the set high-fiving,
a traumatized soldier in on the Japanese cities of pact on my life, creatively mance.” but it did feel special.q