From what appears to be a highly unusual Christopher Nolan move, the director deviated from the original script and the scene became quite iconic for audiences to witness. Talking about the scene where the talks of which cities to be bombed were in discussion.
Talking about one of the most iconic scenes where James Ramer’s character Henry Stimson talked about which cities to be destroyed, Christopher Nolan deviated from the original script and revealed that the city of Kyoto was to be destroyed. This didn’t actually happen because Henry Stimson had honeymooned with his wife in the city!
Christopher Nolan Deviated From the Script For Oppenheimer
In an interview with the iconic director, Nolan revealed that there was quite an iconic scene in Oppenheimer when he went off the script. Talking about a scene where James Remar crosses off the city’s name for the bombing, the director revealed that there was a surprising underlying reason why he crossed off Kyoto from the list.
In the film, Remar’s character Henry Stimson reveals that he and his wife had honeymooned in Kyoto and that was the reason he crossed off Kyoto from the list. Although the reason wasn’t confirmed or denied historically, Nolan felt that it would add to the relevance of the character. Stating that he loves Kyoto for its cultural significance, the director revealed that the reason that Henry Stimson states was completely unscripted and wanted to capture the reaction from the other cast members on camera.
“There’s a moment where James Remar… He kept talking to me about how he learned that Stimson and his wife had honeymooned in Kyoto. That was one of the reasons that Stimson took Kyoto off the list to be bombed. I had him crossing the city off the list because of its cultural significance, but I’m like, ‘Just add that.’ It’s a fantastically exciting moment where no one in the room knows how to react.”
Being a perfectionist, Nolan admitted that he wanted all the cast mates to read their real-life counterparts. Citing the book American Prometheus as the source material, Christopher Nolan revealed that the entire cast of Oppenheimer knew their characters by heart and hence going off the script was quite surprising to capture.
Christopher Nolan Had Prepped His Cast For Oppenheimer
In the interview, the director further revealed that the entire cast of Oppenheimer was asked to read about their on-screen characters. Reading from the book American Prometheus which is an autobiography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the entire cast was well-versed with their characters and the unscripted scene became all the more surprising for the entire cast.
“Each actor was coming to the table with research about what their real-life counterpart had been. They had tons of homework to do. They had a great resource with American Prometheus [the Oppenheimer biography on which the film is based]. They then did their own research and what it meant for me, which isn’t something I’d ever really been able to do in the past.”
The scene became one of the iconic scenes of the 2023 movie and Christopher Nolan received critical acclaim from the audience (as was expected). Oppenheimer is currently available to watch in theaters across the U.S.
Source: ScreenRant
