Kitty Oppenheimer was one of the highlights of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. The Cillian Murphy starter swept the Academy Awards, winning Nolan his first Oscar as a director. Emily Blunt, the actress responsible for essaying the brilliant role of Kitty Oppenheimer has come out in praise of the director with regards to the character herself.
A recent criticism has been levied against Christopher Nolan, pointing towards his inability to write compelling female characters, even though he has been praised for his character work, along with his plots.
The director is yet to speak out against it, but Blunt has already come out to talk about how she felt about Kitty Oppenheimer, a character that was praised as a vital part of the story.
Emily Blunt is all praises for Nolan’s Kitty Oppenheimer
Emily Blunt, speaking with Games Radar, opened up about her thoughts on characters like Kitty Oppenheimer, specifically in response to the criticism that Christopher Nolan has trouble writing female characters. She said:
“I mean – it’s one of the best parts that anyone has ever written for me. Not that he wrote it for me, but he wrote an exquisite part that is so layered. Even though she’s not a huge part, it packs a punch. I was so excited by her. And the thing that I love is that he wasn’t concerned with her being likeable, it was just a very real interpretation of the character.
When you read about her in the book, they say that ‘Kitty didn’t do small talk she only did big talk’ which is so symbolic of the character. I really remember reading that and thinking, ‘that’s it, she’s so clear’. Usually I think women in movies have to be sort of quite likeable and warm, but she wasn’t either of those things, and he was unafraid of that and writing her as such. I just loved her.”
Blunt, who had a lot to say about the character, was thrilled to be playing Kitty Oppenheimer to begin with. The character received a whole lot of praise, not just from audiences, but also from fellow actors. Even though Blunt failed to receive an Academy Award for her role, she was nominated nonetheless, something worth taking note of when talking about Nolan’s supposed inability to write female characters.
Emily Blunt has previously talked about her hatred of “strong female characters”
The actress has gone on record to talk about her disgust for scripts that cater to “strong female characters”, or those who use it as a selling point in their stories. The actress believes that it takes away from the character more than it adds to it, saying:
“It’s the worst thing ever when you open a script and read the words ‘strong female lead. That makes me roll my eyes. I’m already out. I’m bored. Those roles are written as incredibly stoic, you spend the whole time acting tough and saying tough things.”
The actress has not been against playing strong characters. She has essayed the role of multiple strong, female characters, which proves a lot of what she says moot, given that these characters are usually well-rounded rather than being defined by how ‘strong’ they are.
