Oppenheimer: Cillian Murphy Names The Nolan Film He Would Have Liked To Appear In
After playing supporting roles in five of Christopher Nolan's films, Cillian Murphy finally made it to the top of the writer-director's pecking order with the titular role in the box-office smash "Oppenheimer."
Since Nolan has only directed 12 feature films during his illustrious career, it's quite a feat for Murphy, considering that he's worked with the filmmaker on half of them. Yet while he has accumulated an embarrassment of riches teaming with Nolan on "The Dark Knight" trilogy, "Inception," "Dunkirk" and now "Oppenheimer," Murphy is lamenting over at least one of the director's other films that he wished he'd taken part in.
In an interview with The Independent, Murphy said that he misses the fact that he didn't work on Nolan's sci-fi epic "Interstellar." Released in 2014, "Interstellar" stars Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway as Joseph Cooper and Dr. Amelia Brand, respectively, who lead a small crew on an interstellar mission to find a new home for humans to inhabit since Earth is dying. Unfortunately for Cooper and Brand, the mission's enduring length means they must leave their loved ones behind forever.
"I adore 'Interstellar' just because I find it so emotional," Murphy told The Independent. "I remember seeing it in the cinema when I had little kids. It just had a big impact on me. It broke my heart. I love watching his films when I'm not in them because you don't have to freak out about the size of your ears, or whatever."
Murphy missed out on his first try at a Nolan film but was offered another role
"Oppenheimer" simultaneously chronicles three significant periods in the life of legendary theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer.
In addition to noting his college years, the film largely explores Oppenheimer's work on The Manhattan Project to develop the Atomic Bomb as a means to end World War II, as well as his time in front of a secret U.S. Congressional panel that tried to discredit his achievements after he declared his stance on the use of nuclear weapons after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The film's release ends Hollywood's bizarre and decades-long journey to make an Oppenheimer film that began in 1945, the same year of the bombings.
For Cillian Murphy, part of his involvement in "Oppenheimer" simply boils down to fate, considering that he fell short on his audition to play the title role in Nolan's 2005 film "Batman Begins." And while he lost the part to Christian Bale, Murphy created such an electric atmosphere when he tried on the Batsuit for "Batman Begins" that Nolan cast him as Dr. Jonathan Crane — aka Scarecrow — one of the film's principal villains.
The role, of course, marked Murphy's first gig with Nolan, and he went on to become one of Nolan's most dependable troupe members leading up to his star turn in "Oppenheimer."
Also starring Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, and Kenneth Branagh, "Oppenheimer" is still playing in theaters.