Cillian Murphy has poured his heart and soul into bringing Oppenheimer to life. And boy, has it been well and sufficiently rewarded! Christopher Nolan is a filmmaker who demands nothing less than complete dedication from his actors every time he is behind the camera; and Murphy was no exception. To create this Oscar-worthy film, Nolan seemingly went all out and put Murphy through some extreme conditions to bring out J. Robert Oppenheimer’s silhouette and physique as best as possible.

Apparently, Christopher Nolan left Cillian Murphy to fend for himself in the freezing cold and starvation for specific scenes in Oppenheimer.

Christopher Nolan did not go lightly on Cillian Murphy

Jimmy Kimmel welcomed the cast of Oppenheimer to his talk show on Thursday. Cillian Murphy, alongside Emily Blunt and Robert Downey Jr., regaled the audience with behind-the-scenes tales from the movie. Murphy recounted how during one of the final sequences-the interrogation scene, Nolan insisted on keeping the AC running while the actor was already hungry and shivering. This was to convey “the character has been humiliated and he feels awful“.

In May last year, the actor revealed to The New York Times that he had to shed a considerable amount of weight for the role, as J. Robert Oppenheimer was quite slim. According to co-star Emily Blunt, who played Oppenheimer’s wife Kitty, Murphy survived on “like, one almond,” as she revealed to Entertainment Weekly. Despite the challenging circumstances, Christopher Nolan wanted to portray Oppenheimer accurately, even if it meant breaking his decade-long tradition of sticking to PG-13 or 12A ratings.

Christopher Nolan once addressed the rating and certification for his latest film and how he saw it coming while working on the project. He also shed light on why the elements that warranted the movie’s R rating were crucial for the character’s narrative progression.

Christopher Nolan on Oppenheimer’s R-rating

Robert Oppenheimer, played by Cillian Murphy, was a highly nuanced and complex character. Apart from his brilliance in science, arts, and languages, he also had traits of a dilettante, a womanizer, and a borderline emotionally unstable man, as per public opinion. In a July 2023 episode of the Inside Total Film Podcast, Christopher Nolan shared how these aspects were integral to understanding both Oppenheimer’s motivations and his vulnerabilities. “It was very important to tell his story in a fully realised way“, said the filmmaker.

When questioned about whether he saw Oppenheimer‘s R-rating coming, Nolan replied, “Yeah, definitely”. He explained that they “definitely anticipated” the movie receiving the certification. Nonetheless, given the serious and intricate subject matter, Nolan still did not want to “shy away from any aspect of it“. No matter the rating, the movie has without a doubt proved that it was worth every bit of effort, with the chance of Oscar glory right around the corner.

What do you think about the extreme lengths the Oppenheimer cast went through to nail the 2023 blockbuster? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!