Oppenheimer According to Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt | Vanity Fair

Here's what really went down behind the making of 'Oppenheimer,' according to Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. What is it really like on a Christopher Nolan set? Did Cillian really say yes before reading the script? From pre-production to the release of the film, the cast talk about their favorite on-screen moments and their relationship with director Christopher Nolan.
Directors: Claire Buss and Noël Jean
Director of Photography: AJ Young
Editor: Cory Stevens; Christopher Jones
Featuring: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr.
Interviewer: Anthony Breznican
Coordinating Producer: Sydney Malone
Production Managers: Andressa Pelachi, Peter Brunette
Talent Booker: Lauren Mendoza
Camera Operator: Jon Corum
Gaffer: Oliver Lukacs
Sound Mixer: Paul Cornett
Production Assistant: Fernando Barajas, Shenelle Jones
Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin
Post Production Coordinator: Scout Alter
Supervising Editor: Erica DeLeo
Assistant Editor: Billy Ward
Graphics Supervisor: Ross Rackin
Filmed on Location at: The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills
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[@trinaq]

I hope that Cillian gets Oscar nominated for Best Actor, his performance was extremely powerful.

[@rehnumachowdhury3629]

Lol, he's a lock for the nomination. All 3 are. We need the win.

[@Ay3shizzle]

Agreed and don’t forget RDJ. He was simply phenomenal in this movie.

[@thedynamiclife2485]

@@Ay3shizzleyessir🩵

[@maxamedaadanaxmed1626]

Only he will get nominated he will win dead or alive😊

[@rosa_stars349]

Facts

[@setriq784]

This is the first time I ever care about the awards, especially for Cillian Murphy and Christopher Nolan. Nolan is long overdue, and Cillian gave a perfomance that already is appearing on "greatest performances of all time" lists on filmtwt. And I think it really is that level. I was deeply touched by his performance, so subtle and internal and natural, he WAS Oppenheimer, not like 'yeah, that actor is playing Oppie quite well'. The actor disappeared in the character, it was transformative and transcendent. Stuff of acting legends.

[@mattcampbell7669]

At least they both won Golden Globe awards at the moment!

[@Ay3shizzle]

Don’t forget RDJ. That dude straight up delivered in this movie

[@nri4950]

x2

[@lemon3165]

I'm shocked by how much I care for the Oscars this year

[@mattcampbell7669]

@@lemon3165 They are going to win for sure!

[@eleftheriab1159]

"We like making dad proud" had me cracking up. But you can really see that they take great pride in working with Christopher Nolan. Also I so desperately want to see all three of them get their Oscars. A long overdue and now it's definitely their time.

[@leoribeirop]

me too, all of them deserved so much, but it's sad that Emily probably will lose to Da'Vine Joy Randolph 😭

[@FrancoisDressler]

@@leoribeirop Not sad at all.

[@mk6rfc1]

rdj is 5 years older than nolan as well lol

[@aryaman98]

What a wierd thing to say in an interview.

[@FrancoisDressler]

@@aryaman98 Not really.

[@larissa_m]

i absolutely adore how these three speak so highly of christopher nolan, especially rdj who has endless praises for him.

[@CharlieBam]

After the last marvel movies, I bet rdj was super relieved to not be in front of a green screen for 90% of the movie

[@Jahaay]

If you're not about the money as an actor, if Nolan calls you, you just say yes, because you know it's gonna be tough and crazy, but about the craft

[@dasupertramp5855]

Oscars for Nolan, Murphy, and Downey, way past time for all three.

[@lordclown94lowlifegamer37]

they are not "diversity" enough

[@aryaman98]

They don't deserve it

[@ULTIMATEUNITED2000]

​@aryaman98 your mad. Nolan 💯 deserves his Oscar. Best films he made with TDK trilogy, inception, interstellar, oppenheimer, memento etc. All top tier.

[@aryaman98]

@@ULTIMATEUNITED2000 no you're mad. Nolan sucks

[@Notonly1664]

​@@aryaman98yes, you deserve it😂😂😂

[@humss3_araneta727]

I'm hoping for these three to win an Oscar they deserve it.

[@leoribeirop]

say it!!

[@dela71191]

“If I see Chris Nolan i throw my phone” 🤣

[@lismeytrosel8323]

The oscar definitely has to go to Cillian, he is just amazing.

[@estaetique]

This has been genuinely by far my favorite trio that’s ever come out as a result of the making of any film.

[@Centre14]

clicked faster than the velocity of the whiskey glass Emily Blunt threw towards cillian.

[@joanneweiss3864]

Best comment ANYWHERE all week!!!!👏👏👏👏🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@markjones952]

Give Emily Blunt all the awards.

[@mattcampbell7669]

That hasn't happened yet!

[@Nancy-sf2pl]

Maybe nominations but no

[@carpediemearth]

@@Nancy-sf2plNobody asked you

[@allforgood9722]

Why?

[@taklai5069]

*in all the categories

[@rehnumachowdhury3629]

Please, break the best actor curse, and let the best performance win. This isn't the peoples choice awards. Narratives shouldn't matter. Cillian should have it locked.

[@fruitsy_]

paul giamatti had a great performance and that wasn't a narrative

[@danielkucharik46]

Exactly, narratives shouldn't matter, so Paul Giamatti gave a simply better more nuanced performence than Cillian. Golden Globes were in a lot of controversy, so they needed to stay popular and gave Cillian award, based on "narratives". Critics choice awards and Oscars are voted by actual critics, who have seen all the movies and don't care that actor playing Oppenheimer is "Tomas Fookin Shelby"

[@elainejiang9534]

Dude you have no idea what the academy is even comprised of. CCA and the academy doesn't overlap in voters. And the CCA just had this whole controversy about how a member of their organization, who's part of the HCA, approached studios saying they could influence the results of the CCA, which led the CCA to ask any members with duo HCA-CCA membership to either quit HCA or leave CCA. Not to mention Amazon literally invited 50 members of the CCA to a 4 day wine and dine trip, which may have led to the surprising nominations/wins of Saltburn and American Fiction. Maybe you should learn your facts before trying to hate on people. It makes you look stupid. The CCA isn't just comprised of "actual critics" either. It's known to be the pundits award lol @@danielkucharik46

[@lararistic4610]

N​@@danielkucharik46Yes but he got perfekt Critics for his role so 🤷🤷

[@sudeshnapal1832]

@@danielkucharik46 Weird to claim that the Golden Globes gave Cillian the award based on narratives, even when he is the one who has won the most critics group awards (23 wins) whereas Giamatti comes in second with 13 wins. Let's not forget that the CCA chose "I'm just Ken" over "What was I made for" and gave Best Hair and Makeup to Barbie. Both wins are extremely dodgy, even Gosling was shocked. Also 2 days ago the THR article came out regarding how the CCA members are corrupt and can easily be influenced by HCA voters.

[@user-ei1xw7vb2z]

“He’s filming a Dunkin’ Donuts commercial” lmao, the Super Bowl commercial

[@lunatelly]

Cillian is so chatty here, I enjoyed every second of this interview! ❤

[@sammiddleton2992]

Definitely the movie of the year for me, Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr were spectacular in it. Definately rooting for both of them and Christopher Nolan to get their well deserved Oscars.

[@lindsaydouglas8951]

7:39 "There's no way that I could've got to that place without you..." "It is 'cause I slapped the sh*t out of you?" "And he cut it out!"🤣

[@vaish7504]

Now I really wanna see the slap scene 😂

[@rodolfo4379]

It's one of those movies that you have to watch multiple times. You don't fully understand the characters or fully grasp the gravity of the situation during the first watch. The cinematography is watch gets you during the first watch - it is a beautiful film. The second watch you become more aware and focused on the characters and their relationships. One of the best films I ever watched. Any and all awards and applause is due

[@brkaz5864]

Thanks Vanity Fair great interview. To see Cillian so into it animated and vocal shows the quality of the interviewer. Cillian does not suffer fools or foolish waste of time interviews.

[@JEBossTon92]

I could listen to these 3 talk about acting for the rest of my life. The way Cillian talks about Bowie as an inspiration for his Oppenheimer portrayal. Just fascinating stuff. And brilliant idea by Nolan.

[@pendragoney]

“No disrespect to every [other] director in the world” 😂 and wow RDJ’s Nolan impression is on point! 6:01 8:28

[@thedynamiclife2485]

It feels like when the people are hanging around with RDJ, he’ll make them laugh and feel welcomed even though they don’t usually laugh! Gotta love this guy’s whole vibe😂❤

[@Ay3shizzle]

The legend even made Nolan laugh lol

[@allforgood9722]

He loves to takeover.

[@jediracoon5453]

@@allforgood9722 thank you I thought I was the only one

[@AutumnReeves887]

these 3 are so funny together 😭

[@Ay3shizzle]

Dynamic trio lol

[@therealronniej]

We won’t see another movie of Oppenheimer’s caliber for at least 10-20 years. Cheers to Oscar hopes for Emily, Cillian, Chris, and Robert! They so deserve it. 🔥☄️

[@ashsmart6895]

so true

[@keartan]

I'm on the polar opposite of opinions. I thought it was a messy script that resulted in a film that just didn't land for me. I didn't care about any of the characters and found myseld zoning out multiple times.

[@ashsmart6895]

you are a literal child.@@keartan

[@keartan]

I'm "literally" not a child. @@ashsmart6895

[@dela71191]

I love it when RDJ brought up about Marvel in interviews

[@aragcn]

cillian deserves that academy award!!!

[@mattcampbell7669]

Agreed!

[@mariaeduardasalgado]

We want an Oscar for Emily Blunt

[@lani2023]

This is the only film I've watched in the theater in the last 12 months and I did it multiple times. For me to do that, says this was a once in a generation film. Bravo to everyone, especially Cill!

[@lindsaydouglas8951]

4:22 "No disrespect to every director in the world..." 😂

[@lisaward2636]

As Robert Downey Jr said "these three are the holy trinity". They all deserve a Oscar nod. However Robert Downey Jr,and Cillian Murphy I hope will win the Oscar. Such strong performances.

[@rosa_stars349]

CILLIAN FOR THE OSCAR

[@davidlovesfilm]

I knew all three of these amazing actors were going to be nominated at the Oscars when I saw the trailer in March last year. They've got such great chemistry together, it's so infectious. What a trio!

[@oppxnheimer]

I know cillian and giamatti will be a tough matchup. I haven’t seen the holdovers but i respect Paul. But I must say, I really want cillian to win.

[@AA-qb7ni]

My favourite film of the year. I hope the cast and Nolan win big at the Oscars!! 🙌🏼

[@movieman2782]

What just 10min ☹️☹️ we need 3hours

[@abbieruth1944]

Oppenheimer is back at my local IMAX and I’m definitely going to go watch it tomorrow

[@giimps]

I need an hour of this interview.

[@axxx2159]

i would love to see emily win supporting actress oscar

[@kazialnahian8620]

Doing the press tour for Oppenheimer, made Cillian open up a lot!!!

[@allforgood9722]

😀Yes, understandably, he's an actor who doesn't enjoy celebrity. He enjoys the simple pleasures of everyday life. Excellent role model.

[@LJE1821]

Emily Blunt deserve to win too, praying for her to get an awards 🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@krishnadeepreddy7038]

Such a delightful interview, you can see them having fun every minute talking.

[@peakingmantis5331]

5:58 "11am and 6pm" that impression was spot on haha.

[@gotyourtags30]

0:00 now the Dunkin’ Donuts commercials makes sense

[@carpediemearth]

Cillian, Emily, and Jason Clark were the most powerful performers in the film. I know it's contract stuff, but Jason should've been included in the ensemble list because he deserves an ensemble nomination too.

[@carpediemearth]

@@allforgood9722 No one is as popular or famous as RDJ. Jason Clarke isn't in the SAG ensemble credits because of billing, and it's unfair that SAG has such an exclusionary rule. The fact that Casey Affleck, who was there for 2 minutes, got an ensemble nod for being a bigger name, but not Jason Clarke who was a real supporting actor with a meaty role is ridiculous. Jason's performance was more compelling and deserving of a nomination than even RDJ, and at least should've been included in the ensemble nom. Benny Safdie also deserved one.

[@allforgood9722]

@carpediemearth Awesome, thanks for answering my question.

[@allforgood9722]

@@carpediemearth 💯 agree and really appreciate your time explaining this. I really feel bad for Jason Clarke.

[@kauiann4656]

What a lovely interview! These three also give off such a cozy energy together that I really enjoyed :)

[@SGong33]

lol RDJ was not joking about the Matt Damon Dunkin commercial!

[@nbwinchester3284]

i hope that rdj wins all the awards for his role he was perfect in the movie he deserves all of them

[@rehnumachowdhury3629]

I wouldn't loose a night of sleep over it. He's a complete lock.

[@puladavid]

Love these three. Have so enjoyed all the cast interviews for Oppenheimer

[@TKVdaboi]

C'mon Cillian!!!!!! I so wanna see you at the Oscars stage.

[@annabagaeva4682]

When Cill says yes 3:05, I'm ready to give him everything!!!

[@madisonfng]

RDJ deserves an oscar for his nolan impression, it’s spot on 😂👏🏻

[@GeneralZod1991]

Nolan is one of the most RAW directors I have ever known.. in this era of massive technology, he still doesn't want to use cellphones, the Internet, or even email.. DUDE IS TO REAL.. especially in the world of the film industry, all films must be develop their visual level by viewing or exploring the internet world... BUT STILL, Nolan always has a VISION that is truly outside the box and truly mind blowing...he can even get crazy ideas for his films without using TECHNOLOGY and the INTERNET???... ABSOLUTELY GOAT DIRECTOR!

[@hameed]

Lmao

[@giimps]

I love these oppenhomies chemistry ❤

[@rosa_stars349]

CILLIAN WINS OSCAR

[@IsadoraCamposTorres]

OMG that's the best interview ever ! I have chills hearing them talk about Christopher Nolan's set. Fascinating.

[@DynishaRandle]

I know art is subjective but my mind is blown by anyone who thinks Giamatti's performance was better than Cillian's. I've seen Holdovers twice and don't see it. I know people like to throw around terms like masterpiece but I truly believe Cillian gave us a masterpiece of a performance.

[@keartan]

I thought it was a really messy script. The performances were great but they couldn't save the lack of human empathy lacking in the whole thing. It felt more like I was watching a text book rather than being brought on an emotional journey. But I'm in the minority clearly.

[@Starburst514]

I loved Paul, but his character in the holdovers I feel like I've seen him play before in different shades, I want him to get his Oscar SAT but there has to be a better role for him to get it with

[@RenierRivas]

"that dunking donut commercial was AMAZING hahahaha"

[@ghostboyee]

Wow, I love this behind the scenes banter & the peek of how Nolan runs his set. Had no idea he is so committed to his craft & willingness to collaborate. 2 Oscar winners here & a future win for Emily. She’s such an acting force.

[@GabrielaFernandez-tu2oi]

i love these type of interviews where the focus if the art

[@jenniferreally4724]

jusf as i was about to miss seeing cillian murphy videos vanity fair comes through tysm

[@bonmeneur]

Undoubtedly Cillian going to take oscar for sure. Such a amazing performance he gave as robert.j.oppenheimer

[@brightgreenleaves]

Best interview yet of the Oppenheimer cast 🩷

[@yeonjundani]

These three had amazing acting in the movie

[@lex9468]

this whole movie deserved every award.

[@katiegriffin7597]

Emily’s “ooo” when Cillian said “hello, Vanity Fair” was exactly the same noise I made

[@rachelmalaguit4930]

Cillian ❤ also looking forward to watching Small Things Like These

[@anasshahid224]

Absolutely well deserved Oscar wins for Oppenheimer, the movie was incredible, one of the best I have seen in a long time. Happy to see Christopher Nolan get his long deserved Oscar win for best director, truly one of the greatest directors today. Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. gave the performances of a lifetime in the movie, happy to see them win too.

[@bethanya1]

cillian best actor oscar 🔜

[@ceelavee]

I've watched most of the interviews for Oppenheimer and I believe this was the most I've seen Cillian speak.

[@gulzaibkhan6913]

Such a cool interview. They all deserve Oscars for their phenomenal performance.

[@CateBlanket-fy1ed]

CILLIAN GET THAT OSCAR

[@debhavert]

Absolutely astonishing film with amazing acting!! I loved it!

[@mistybergeron3079]

So sweet to see the friendship between them. I wish it was an hour long. Why such a choppy edit?

[@boalth.6125]

6:13 Cillian be like. CLEARLY

[@mariesia3449]

Saw it 4x in IMAX and 4x on streaming already.

[@franzhess2532]

love the reference to the dunkin donuts super bowl commercial 😅

[@zotter1235]

This made me laugh a lot haha. Would love to visit a Chris Nolan set to see this all in action 😂

[@CrazyFangirlReviews]

Omg that would've been hilarious

[@veragrig8645]

When Cillian’s socks are brighter than my future 😅

[@Ace4975_]

oppenhomies and original six have my heart 🩵

[@irena8307]

I predict all 3 will get nominated for an Oscar for their roles. They were all outstanding.

[@kerrin6633]

That was sweet of Robert Downey Junior

[@missalboogie]

The scenes they refer to are my favorite in the movie

[@Oliveoyl2000]

RDJ will always be my crush 😻

[@jigszone9945]

Bruh the dunkin doughnut commercial

[@movieman2782]

Finaly we get an answer for the chair rumor😅

[@victorguedes1074]

LOVE THEM ALL

[@cdbrown30]

RDJ and Cillian were my favorite actors in this movie.

[@dalilahsamantha4266]

I just realized that Robert spoiled the Super Bowl commercial with Ben Afleck here 🤣

[@user-ks2if2kx3e]

Oscars for all of them plus Nolan plus Göransson.

[@nathanchong7731]

1:39 The amount of trust Cillian Murphy have on Christopher Nolan

[@UnitedStatesofAmerica.858]

Cylian Murphy is one of my favorite actors of all time❤❤❤❤❤ With Ryan Gosling Keanu Reeves

[@Larry_is_real]

Watched the film 3 times, more to come! 😊🖤

[@lararistic4610]

What a great trio 🔥🔥🔥Hope in the future to see them again in the Movie together🙏🙏🤌🤌👏👏👏👏

[@nnn248nnn]

Wow, three of the coooolest people in one interview!! They all have such swag. Amazing actors. Great movie!!

[@Purplehag]

They are like grad students talking about their fav professors 😂

[@georgialerangis2123]

Just give them all the awards please!

[@LJE1821]

My favorite people, but I love Emily Blunt More, my Queen 👸🏼✨

[@helenaaraujo6324]

Emily laughing is everything

[@krisxxxxw]

Oscar for Cillian! 🏆🥇

[@henges65]

watched Oppenheimer 6 times in cinema now. still loving it

[@twononcriticsandacat]

8 for me! ❤

[@jorgereyna1796]

These three are amazing