Robert Downey Jr. Felt Cillian Murphy ‘Looked Through Me Like I Didn’t Exist’ in ‘Oppenheimer’
Robert Downey Jr. recently teamed up with Cillian Murphy for the Christopher Nolan picture Oppenheimer. And although they got along well on set, Downey confided there were moments where Murphy was chilling to work with.
Robert Downey Jr. shared what it was like working with Cillian Murphy in ‘Oppenheimer’
Downey had little to no hesitation acting in Christopher Nolan’s newest movie Oppenheimer. The actor was actually in the midst of taking a break from the film industry when he heard about the project.
“I had been cooling my heels for about a year before the pandemic, just reacquainting myself with my family and other interests because I had been working super consistently,” Downey said according to News 18. “But this was Christopher Nolan, doing something that was important to him. The cast was this large gathering of folks who have their choice of projects. And just as soon as we were under way, world events lined up in a way that turned this movie into an important metaphor that could speak to any number of things. So, it was kind of a no- brainer.”
This large cast was made up of stars like Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, and Cillian Murphy. Downey witnessed up close and personal how Murphy was able to immerse himself into his role as J. Robert Oppenheimer. Murphy’s transition into the father of the atom bomb couldn’t help occasionally make Downey uncomfortable.
“Even just by the time I was on set, seeing how Cillian had embodied this character, to the point where you go like, ‘I’m practically with the guy.’ You can’t help but feel a little bit iced out by it,” Downey told Extra TV. “Now, Cillian is so warm and nice and inviting. But then we’d roll, and I’d feel like he was looking through me like I didn’t exist. And I was like, ‘That sucks.’”
Christopher Nolan considers Robert Downey Jr. one of the greatest actors of all time
Nolan had been looking to work with Downey for many years now, but the opportunity never came to do so until recently. Nolan was hoping to work with the Marvel star for a couple of decades now.
“I’ve always known since I first met him – however many years ago it is now, almost 20 years – that he is one of the great actors, not just of his generation, but of all time,” Nolan said in an interview with Total Film. “And I’ve been waiting for the project, and I know he has too, where we can collaborate with him as the lead, and I could put the most enormous weight – cinematic weight – on his shoulders, and watch him carry that burden. It was such a thrill to be able to call Cillian, and say, ‘This is it.’”
Nolan believed that his opinion was only solidified after watching Downey’s work in Oppenheimer.
“Watching him lose himself in that performance, and completely lose himself in a character in this way, was just an incredible reminder of just what an amazing actor he is,” he said.
Cillian Murphy was secretly desperate to lead ‘Oppenheimer’
Unlike Downey, Murphy already had a lot of experience with Nolan. Aside from Oppenheimer, Murphy appeared in all three of Nolan’s Batman movies. He also had starring roles in films like Inception and Dunkirk. But Oppenheimer was the first time Murphy found himself playing the lead role in one of Nolan’s films. It was an opportunity that Murphy spent years internally clamoring for.
“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,” Murphy told Associated Press. “But deep down, secretly, I was desperate to play a lead for him.”
With Oppenheimer, Murphy didn’t even have to audition for the lead role. It was simply offered to him, which the actor couldn’t have been more thrilled about.
“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,’” Murphy remembered. “It was a great day.”
