In his sixth film with the director Christopher NolanGolden Globe Award Actor Cillian Murphy Starring in a biographical film Oppenheimerabout J. Robert Oppenheimer, the leading figure behind the development of the atomic bomb. The performance earned Murphy the highest praise of any role in his long career, which includes Nolan’s hit films The Dark Knight Trilogy and similar TV series Peaky Blinders. with deadlineMurphy explains how he prepared for the most famous role of his career to date.
Although Murphy previously had supporting roles in five Nolan-directed films Oppenheimerhe was still surprised to receive a call from a filmmaker offering him the lead role in his latest film. He recalled, “When he called me, I think it was January 21st, it was a little bit of a shock, but I immediately went from shock and joy to work. I turned into work the next day and started Work. I spent these six months preparing. I still have six months to go, but sometimes you can get lost in the process and sometimes you just have to work.
Murphy’s work included researching the characters to understand Oppenheimer, but he was careful not to replicate exactly what he found in the scientist’s archival materials. He shared:
“While I was doing all the reading, I was also working on his physique from the outside in and getting the contours right. Because his body was so skinny, I had to get it right, lose some weight and adjust my body for that. Status. I did notice that hand on hip action in a lot of the photos, so I stole that.“Then I talked to people who had heard him speak, and they mentioned a lot about how he held pipes and stuff like that. So I stole that […] Imitation is not one of my strong points. But the way he spoke was very unique. No one spoke like him at the time. But it’s a part of the world of American accents from that period that you don’t hear anymore. Mr. Rogers said this. And Orson Welles. We want it to be somewhere in there. But again, give it that Oppenheimer feel.
“When you play any role, inevitably there’s going to be some of you there, and it’s a combination of you, the character and the script.”
Murphy noted that it’s important to feel sympathy for the characters he plays, even if he disagrees with their actions. “I have empathy for all the characters I play,” he explains. “I think the most important tool in your toolkit as an actor is empathy. Because the definition of empathy is putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. That’s what we do as actors. You don’t have to agree with them, but you have to never judge these characters first and foremost. So I never judged his actions or his decisions. I just tried to figure out their motivations. Present it to the audience. If they want to make a judgment, or if we provoke them to ask questions, that’s fine. But it’s not really my job to try to humanize him. And do it as sensitively as possible.
