Oppenheimer, which is Christopher Nolan’s biographical film about the man behind the world’s first atomic bomb, is being dubbed the “must see movie of the year.”
I would venture to say that the cinema event of the year is actual “Barbenheimer,” where fans are planning out their double-feature to see both Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same day. However, I guess Oppenheimer is still one of the two halves there, so maybe it doesn’t matter…
There are a few directors in the modern age of movies that make people go to the theater no matter what. One of those esteemed and decorated movie creators is Christopher Nolan, who has been known for great films such as Inception, Interstellar, and The Dark Knight trilogy.
He’s also the guy that released one of the most confusing films of all time back in 2020 titled Tenet, which left movie-goers perplexed (and not in a good way), though it did manage to get people to go back to the movies during the pandemic.
So now Nolan looks to redeem himself somewhat with Oppenheimer, of which critics and fans alike are saying it could very well be Nolan’s best work. And you can’t have an all-time great movie without a talented leading actor, so Nolan called upon one of his regulars, Cillian Murphy, to take on the role of J. Robert Oppenheimer.
Murphy has always been known to dedicate himself to his roles, and really seemed to find his groove in the British drama series Peaky Blinders, which just wrapped up its sixth and final season last year.
In order to prepare for the role of the man coined the “father of the nuclear bomb,” Cillian allegedly went above and beyond to dedicate himself to the role and make his body appear like Oppenheimer’s.
His co-star Emily Blunt, who plays his on screen wife in the movie, shed some light on the shocking process and transformation that Murphy took on to fulfill the leading role.
Blunt told Extra in an interview regarding the new movie:
“He had such a monumental undertaking. And he could only eat, like, an almond every day. He was so emaciated.”
Imagine living off of one almond a day, that’s absolutely insane.
Actors and actresses often do this kind of thing to prepare for big Hollywood projects, often putting on or taking off massive amounts of weight to mimic the appearances of the characters they are playing.
Murphy elaborated on the transformation he went through to the New York Times a couple of months ago, saying:
“I love acting with my body, and ‘Oppenheimer’ had a very distinct physicality and silhouette, which I wanted to get right.
I had to lose quite a bit of weight, and we worked with the costume and tailoring; he was very slim, almost emaciated, existed on martinis and cigarettes.”
At least he didn’t go on a martini and cigarette diet…
If Murphy dedicated that much to the role, that makes me even more excited to go see it. Buckle up and plan bathroom breaks accordingly if you plan on seeing it though, since it comes in around the 3 hour mark for its runtime.
If it’s as good as the trailer that was recently released for the film, I’d say the “Nolan’s best work” review will probably hold true.
Check it out:
