Robert Downey Jr. Praises Cillian Murphy For Role In ‘Oppenheimer’: ‘I’ve Never Witnessed A Greater Sacrifice’

Robert Downey Jr. sang Cillian Murphy’s praises for his portrayal of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, in Christopher Nolan Oppenheimer.

In a conversation with People magazine, the Iron man actor, who plays Atomic Energy Commission chairman Lewis Strauss in the film, explained yes impressed by Murphy’s “commitment”. to the role.

“I have never witnessed a greater sacrifice by a leading actor in my career,” Downey told the publication. “He knew it was going to be a giant question when Chris called him. But I think he also had the humility to survive playing a role like this.”

THE Sherlock Holmes the star shared that the cast would go do things together when they had a break in production, but Murphy often opted out of joining so he could continue working.

“We’d be like, ‘Hey, we have a three day weekend. Maybe we’ll go antiques in Santa Fe. What are you going to do?’ ‘Oh, I have to learn 30,000 words of Dutch. Have fun,” Downey recalled. “But that’s the nature of the question.”

Florence Pugh, who plays one of Oppenheimer’s psychologist Jean Talbot’s greatest loves, also reflected on her time starring alongside the Peaky Blinders actor in the movie.

“Chris had one of the most incredible roles in Cillian,” she said People. “He’s an actor I’ve been watching for a while and have desperately wanted to work with for years. You’d have to be crazy to say no. It was truly one of the best experiences I’ve had.”

THE Don’t worry honey the actress shared that working with Murphy was “hugely impressive.”

“Every single day comes with knowing every single possible way, intonation, inflection of how to bring this character to life,” she continued. “There’s a reason he’s one of the greats.”

In a previous conversation with The Hollywood ReporterNolan revealed that he knew almost immediately that he wanted Murphy to play the physicist Oppenheimerwhich is based on the biography American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.

“I stared at the cover of the book American Prometheus for so many months, and there’s this photograph, in black and white, a blue-eyed look, very intense, of this guy,” Nolan said DAY. “And I thought, ‘Well, I know who could do that.'”

The Oscar-winning director called the actor while at home in Ireland and offered him the role of a lifetime.

“He’s so understated and practical and British,” Murphy said of Nolan. “He was like, ‘Cillian, look, I have a script, it is Oppenheimer and I’d like you to play Oppenheimer.’ It was like this.