The day Christopher Nolan called Cillian Murphy about his new film, B次元官网网址� ,B次元官网网址� Murphy hung up the phone in disbelief.

The Irish actor, though a regular presence in Nolan films going back almost two decades, had always been a supporting player. This time Nolan wanted him to lead.

B次元官网网址淗eB次元官网网址檚 so understated and self-deprecating and, in his very English manner, just said, B次元官网网址楲isten, IB次元官网网址檝e written this script, itB次元官网网址檚 about Oppenheimer. IB次元官网网址檇 like you to be my Oppenheimer,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� Murphy, 46, told The Associated Press recently. B次元官网网址淚t was a great day.B次元官网网址�

For Murphy, it is never not exciting to get a call from Nolan. ItB次元官网网址檚 just hard to predict if heB次元官网网址檚 going to. He knows there are some movies heB次元官网网址檚 right for and some movies he isnB次元官网网址檛.

B次元官网网址淚 have always said publicly and privately, to Chris, that if IB次元官网网址檓 available and you want me to be in a movie, IB次元官网网址檓 there. I donB次元官网网址檛 really care about the size of the part,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淏ut deep down, secretly, I was desperate to play a lead for him.B次元官网网址�

Murphy first met Nolan in 2003. He was brought in to screen test for Batman B次元官网网址攏ot just the movie, the character. Murphy knew he wasnB次元官网网址檛 right for the Dark Knight, but he wanted to meet the man whoB次元官网网址檇 directed B次元官网网址淚nsomniaB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淢emento.B次元官网网址� They hit it off and Murphy got to tap into a sinister intensity to play the corrupt psychiatrist Dr. Crane/Scarecrow, who would go on to appear in all three films. Nolan would also call on Murphy to be the conflicted heir to a business empire in B次元官网网址淚nceptionB次元官网网址� and a traumatized soldier in B次元官网网址淒unkirk.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淲e have this long-standing understanding and trust and shorthand and respect,B次元官网网址� Murphy said. B次元官网网址淚t felt like the right time to take on a bigger responsibility. And it just so happened that it was a (expletive) huge one.B次元官网网址�

Soon after the phone call, Nolan flew to Dublin to meet Murphy to hand him a physical copy of the script, which he devoured right there in NolanB次元官网网址檚 hotel room in September 2020. It was, he said, the best heB次元官网网址檇 ever read.

Then the scale of it started to sink in.

This would be a film about the charismatic and controversial theoretical physicist who helped create the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer and his peers at Los Alamos would test it on July 16, 1945, not knowing what was going to happen. Then several weeks later the United States would drop those bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing tens of thousands of people and leaving many with lifelong injuries.

As , B次元官网网址淟ike it or not J. Robert Oppenheimer is the most important person who ever lived.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淥ppenheimer,B次元官网网址� which opens in theaters on July 21, features a starry cast including Emily Blunt as OppenheimerB次元官网网址檚 wife Kitty, Matt Damon as Leslie Groves Jr., Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss, Gary Oldman as Harry S. Truman, and many more rounding out the pivotal players in and around this tense moment in history.

B次元官网网址淵ou realize this is a huge responsibility. He was complicated and contradictory and so iconic,B次元官网网址� Murphy said. B次元官网网址淏ut you know youB次元官网网址檙e with one of the great directors of all time. I felt confident going into it with Chris. HeB次元官网网址檚 had a profound impact on my life, creatively and professionally. HeB次元官网网址檚 offered me very interesting roles over and IB次元官网网址檝e found all of them really challenging. And I just love being on his sets.B次元官网网址�

Murphy continued: B次元官网网址淎ny actor would want to be on a Chris Nolan set, just to see how it works and to witness his command of the language of film and the mechanics of film and how heB次元官网网址檚 able to use that broad canvas within the mainstream studio system to make these very challenging human stories.B次元官网网址�

Over the years, Murphy has come to appreciate that with Nolan thereB次元官网网址檚 always something deeper to discover than whatB次元官网网址檚 literally on the page. B次元官网网址淒unkirk,B次元官网网址� he recalled, was only 70 pages and there wasnB次元官网网址檛 much to his character, not even a name.

B次元官网网址淗e said, B次元官网网址橪ook, letB次元官网网址檚 figure it out together and you and me can find an emotional journey for the character. And we did it. We did it out in the water on that boat. That comes from trust and respect,B次元官网网址� Murphy said. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 really proud of that performance.B次元官网网址�

As with all Nolan endeavors, secrecy around B次元官网网址淥ppenheimerB次元官网网址� is vitally important. Murphy loves the B次元官网网址渙ld fashioned approachB次元官网网址� that builds interest and anticipation.

The difference with B次元官网网址淥ppenheimerB次元官网网址� and other Nolan originals, though, is that this is rooted in historical fact. You can read the book itB次元官网网址檚 based on, Kai Bird and Martin J. SherwinB次元官网网址檚 Pulitzer Prize-winning B次元官网网址淎merican Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.B次元官网网址� You can watch the 1981 documentary B次元官网网址淭he Day After TrinityB次元官网网址� on The Criterion Channel.

And you can try to parse NolanB次元官网网址檚 words for clues. HeB次元官网网址檚 talked about recreating the Trinity Test, the fascinating paradoxes, the twists, turns and ethical dilemmas and that the story is cinematic and both dream and nightmare. But ultimately, itB次元官网网址檚 something that just needs to be seen.

B次元官网网址淭he question will be how Chris presents it,B次元官网网址� Murphy said. B次元官网网址淚 think people will be very surprised and wowed by what he does. Anything I say will just seem a bit lame as compared to seeing this in an IMAX theater.B次元官网网址�

The time for discussions will be after the movie comes out.

B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 an awful lot to talk about when we can talk freely,B次元官网网址� Murphy said with a smile.

He did offer up that they worked hard to get OppenheimerB次元官网网址檚 look right, from the silhouette to the pipe to the porkpie hat. The man, he said, B次元官网网址渟eemed aware of his own potential mythology.B次元官网网址� But, again, those conversations will have to wait.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 really proud of the movie and IB次元官网网址檓 really proud of what Chris has achieved. This was, for sure, a special one, certainly because of the history with me and Chris. We were not walking around the set high fiving, but it did feel special.B次元官网网址� Murphy said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 an event every time he releases a film, and rightly so. Whether IB次元官网网址檓 in them or not, I always go to see his movies.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擫indsey Bahr, The Associated Press

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