Cillian Murphy was desperate to play the lead in a Christopher Nolan film, and finally got his wish with “Oppenheimer,” after having worked with the esteemed director on five previous occasions. Murphy clearly didn’t want to let Nolan down, either, spending his six months prep time doing as much research as he could. The actor also committed to matching the real Oppenheimer’s slight frame, eating next to nothing to slim down. Such dedication paid off, with the final film being almost unanimously hailed as a triumph and /Film’s Chris Evangelista proclaiming “Oppenheimer” to be one of the best movies of the year — none of which would have been possible without the commitment of Murphy.
With that said, there was one element of Oppenheimer’s personality that Murphy didn’t even try to emulate. As the 47-year-old told Vulture:
“I’ve played a physicist before, in a movie for Danny Boyle called ‘Sunshine,’ so I must have resting physicist face. What became clear to me really quickly was that there’s no point in me trying to understand quantum mechanics. I don’t have the intellectual capability. My job is to go after the humanity.”
It seems Murphy is suggesting he briefly ventured into the world of quantum mechanics all the way back in the early 2000s when preparing to play physicist Robert Capa in Danny Boyle’s 2007 sci-fi thriller. Alas, he was clearly very quickly deterred and despite his dogged commitment to doing Nolan proud in 2023, seemingly didn’t even bother trying with physics when it came to prepping for “Oppenheimer.”