Christopher Nolan did it again! Not only Oppenheimer lived up to the enormous expectations that fans have with a Nolan film, but it also felt like a perfect culmination of all the aspects the director mastered throughout his career. Apart from Nolan’s brilliance, every actor involved presented their A-game, especially Cillian Murphy, who delivers arguably his greatest onscreen performance to date.
But among all the scenes in the critically acclaimed film, there was one particular sequence that was the most challenging for Cillian Murphy to film, as crafting the sequence took a heavy toll on the actor emotionally.
Cillian Murphy reveals the most challenging aspect of filming Oppenheimer
One of the most fascinating parts of the movie was the courtroom drama, and the process behind crafting this sequence was far from easy for the actors, as it took place in a tiny room. Reflecting on it, Cillian Murphy revealed that filming the courtroom scene was emotionally heavy for the actor, as everyone involved was aware of the magnitude of it, and the compact set didn’t help in lightening the pressure. He explained,
“We shot in this tiny, sh–ty little room. There weren’t any moveable walls or anything like that; it was just all of us in there with this huge camera. That felt almost like doing a play. We did that for two weeks, so all these incredible actors, Jason Clarke and everybody, would come in and do their piece.”
But despite the challenges of bringing Nolan’s vision to the big screen, the Peaky Blinders star didn’t budge, expressing that overcoming this process was his favorite part about the entire production.
Cillian Murphy loved overcoming the courtroom challenge
Following their life-long working relationship that kickstarted back in Batman Begins, Cillian Murphy was ready to take the challenge of leading the most important film in Christopher Nolan‘s filmography. And Cillian Murphy didn’t back away from pushing him to the limits, overcoming the challenges, expressing that crafting emotionally heavy scenes in the compact setting was his favorite part of the whole filming process. He said,
“I found that very emotional and heavy, but in a brilliant way. It was a real challenge. So, that was my favorite chunk of the movie in terms of shooting.”
Apart from Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr. also delivers one of his best performances to date since Tropic Thunder, and is now a very possible candidate for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. And thanks to the determination of everyone involved, alongside the courtroom drama, almost everything in the film is pitch-perfect, cementing itself as one of the best releases of 2023 so far.
Oppenheimer is currently running in theatres.
Source: Collider
