Spiritual Cosmos: Cillian Murphy Leaks ‘Ultra-Special’ Message from Christopher Nolan in Oppenheimer Script!
Oppenheimer marked the sixth collaboration between Cillian Murphy and Christopher Nolan – and the first time the Cork actor had taking on a lead role in one of the director’s films
Christopher Nolan and Cillian Murphy attend the BFI Chairman’s dinner at The Rosewood Hotel on February 14, 2024 in London, England (Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images for BFI)
Irish actor Cillian Murphy has shared details of a very personal and touching note that director Christopher Nolan left on his original script for Oppenheimer.
The pair have been frequent collaborators ever since the British director cast Murphy in his 2005 film Batman Begins as the villainous Scarecrow.
Murphy appeared in four more of Nolan’s films over the next 12 years – The Dark Knight (2008) and its sequel The Dark Knight Rises (2012), along with Inception (2010) and Dunkirk (2017).
READ MORE:Matt Damon discusses reteaming with Cillian Murphy on new Irish drama Small Things like These
The duo reunited on last summer’s blockbuster Oppenheimer, with Murphy taking on the challenging lead role of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the US theoretical physicist credited as ‘the father of the atomic bomb’.
In a recent interview with 60 Minutes, Murphy revealed that Nolan flew to Dublin to meet with him to discuss the project where he was presented with the script for the first time.
“Chris came to see me in Dublin, he called me on the phone, and we talked about this,” the Cork native recalled. “And then he came from America and brought this over to me in Dublin, gave it to me, and then he went out and I read it in his hotel room.”
Murphy then held up that same script, which included a note on the cover written by Nolan which read: “Dearest Cillian, finally a chance to see you lead…Love, Chris.”
The note Chistoperh Nolan left Cillian Murphy on his Oppenheimer script
Nolan has previously described asking Murphy to take on the lead role in Oppenheimer as one of his ‘favourite moments in the movie business’.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly last year, Nolan said: “To be able to pick up the phone, and call you, and be like, ‘This is the one where you carry the movie and really get to show what you can do,’ it’s honestly one of my favourite moments in the movie business, when I had that conversation with you.”
While Murphy added: “It was one of the best days of my life, I’ll tell you that, when you called me. I’ll always turn up for Chris, no matter what the part is, but, secretly, it’s a dream to play a lead part.
“The thing was, I had no idea. There was no preamble or anything, I just got the call. So it was incredibly exciting, and daunting, and terrifying, all at the same time.”
