'I was desperate to play a lead for him': 'Oppenheimer' star Cillian Murphy keen to act in Christopher Nolan's movie

Cillian Murphy will be seen as J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist credited with being the father of the atomic bomb
UPDATED JUL 11, 2023
Cillian Murphy wants to play a lead in Christopher Nolan's movie (Jason Mendez/Getty Images)
Cillian Murphy wants to play a lead in Christopher Nolan's movie (Jason Mendez/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Cillian Murphy who is famous for his role as Tommy Shelby in the BBC period drama series 'Peaky Blinders' has recently expressed how desperate he was to star in a Christopher Nolan's movie. Murphy leads a starry cast that includes Emily Blunt 'A Quiet Place' as 'Oppenheimer's wife, biologist and botanist Katherine "Kitty" 'Oppenheimer', Matt Damon 'AIR' as General Leslie Groves Jr., director of the Manhattan Project, Robert Downey Jr.'s Avengers: Endgame' as Lewis Strauss, a founding commissioner of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. 'Oppenheimer' also reunites Nolan with his 'Batman' star Gary Oldman as Harry S. Truman and features a cast that includes Florence Pugh's 'Dune: Part Two' as psychiatrist Jean Tatlock, Benny Safdie 'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret' as theoretical physicist Edward Teller, Michael Angarano 'Minx' as Robert Serber, and Josh Hartnett's '30 Days of Night' as pioneering American nuclear scientist Ernest Lawrence.

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'Desperate to play a lead'

"He's so understated and self-deprecating and, in his very English manner, just said, 'Listen, I've written this script, it's about 'Oppenheimer'. I'd like you to be my 'Oppenheimer.' It was a great day," Murphy told The Associated Press. "I have always said publicly and privately, to Chris, that if I'm available and you want me to be in a movie, I'm there. I don't really care about the size of the part. But deep down, secretly, I was desperate to play a lead for him."

Christopher Nolan's new atomic bomb movie

The new Nolan's movie stars Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist credited with being the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in the Manhattan Project. This World War II undertaking developed the first nuclear weapons, with a supporting ensemble cast that includes Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Rami Malek, Florence Pugh, Benny Safdie, Michael Angarano, Josh Hartnett, and Kenneth Branagh. 'Oppenheimer' is scheduled to be released by Universal Pictures on July 21, 2023. It is Nolan's first film not to be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures domestically or internationally since 'Memento'.

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