Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer became one of the biggest hits of the Hollywood industry and also the director’s greatest hit. Starring Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr, Emily Blunt, and many other talented actors, the film still stands as an easy fan favorite. Throughout his years as a director, Nolan has proven time and again that he is a force to be reckoned with.
Having such a reputable and respected backing himself, there is no doubt that the crowd he would attract for the film would also be of great importance and reasoning. To ensure that no scene would go to waste, Nolan made a decision that would crush the souls of people because of how heartbreaking the reasoning behind it was. He decided to cast his daughter for a role that is embedded in the audience’s mind to be extensively disturbing.
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Christopher Nolan Cast His Daughter in Oppenheimer
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer managed to showcase the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in a manner that turned out to be more disturbing without actually showing anything too explicit or gore-ridden. However, he also chose to cast his daughter, Flora Nolan, during the sequence where Oppenheimer is talking to the people of Los Alamos. It is then that he also seems to be envisioning the actual blast itself.
“We needed someone to do that small part of a somewhat experimental and spontaneous sequence,” Nolan added. “So it was wonderful to just have her sort of roll with it.”
In that sequence, there appears to be a woman who has her skin peeled off as the events of the bombing take place. This woman just so happens to be Nolan’s daughter. Speaking with The Telegraph, the director gave out a proper reason regarding why he chose his daughter for the scene.
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Christopher Nolan Gave his Daughter a Role that Left an Impression
Christopher Nolan, while speaking with The Telegraph, explained that casting his daughter in the role was necessary for personal and emotional impact. The entire point of that scene was to prove that those who died in the tragedy were somebody’s loved ones. They could be people someone knew and loved.
“Truthfully, I try not to analyze my own intentions,” Nolan stated. “But the point is that if you create the ultimate destructive power it will also destroy those who are near and dear to you. So I suppose this was my way of expressing that in what, to me, were the strongest possible terms.”
It was to prove that just how much emotional turmoil there may have been caused in the midst of such a tragic event. So casting Flora Nolan personified that feeling in many ways.
