Cillian Murphy has explained how director Christopher Nolan helped him “unlock” J. Robert Oppenheimer in preparation for the role.

The actor, who plays the theoretical physicist in Nolan’s biopic Oppenheimer, referred to an “amazing phrase” the director used to describe the complex historical figure.

  • READ MORE: Cillian Murphy on becoming Oppenheimer: “I didn’t go out much – I didn’t socialise”

Speaking in an interview with NME, Murphy said: “Chris used this amazing phrase. We were talking about Oppenheimer’s arc and he said, ‘You know, he’s dancing between the raindrops morally.’ That unlocked something in my mind when I was preparing.”

Oppenheimer is one of the key figures who spearheaded the Manhattan Project – a development programme started in 1942 which produced the first nuclear weapons. After the bomb was used to demolish the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, he spent the rest of his life campaigning for international control of the weapons to prevent nuclear proliferation.

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J. Robert Oppenheimer led the USA’s attempt to create the first atomic bomb. CREDIT: Universal

“I do think that he believed it would be the weapon to end all wars,” Murphy added. He thought that [having the bomb] would motivate countries to form a sort of nuclear world governance. He was naive.”

Alongside Murphy, Oppenheimer stars Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek and Kenneth Branagh.

In other Oppenheimer news, it was reported that a fan of the film recently pointed out a historical error in a certain scene, where the title character delivers a speech after the bomb was used to effectively end the Second World War.

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Additionally, in a five-star review, NME wrote: “Not just the definitive account of the man behind the atom bomb, Oppenheimer is a monumental achievement in grown-up filmmaking. For years, Nolan has been perfecting the art of the serious blockbuster – crafting smart, finely-tuned multiplex epics that demand attention; that can’t be watched anywhere other than in a cinema, uninterrupted, without distractions. But this, somehow, feels bigger.”



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