Cillian Murphy had to follow a very strict diet to play Robert Oppenheimer, inventor of the atomic bomb © Universal Studios. All rights reserved.
Oppenheimer is just days away from his release and expectations are extremely high. That’s partly due to the director’s top-notch cast Christopher nolan recruited to replicate the creation of one of the deadliest weapons ever created by mankind. Rami Malek as David Hill, Jack Quaid as Richard Feyman, Tom Conti as Albert Einstein, Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss And Cilian Murphy as Robert Oppenheimerhave led several trade media to predict a spate of awards for the film.
And with the idea of living up to expectations, the entire cast worked fervently to give the best possible performance above all else Cilian Murphywho pushed his body to extremes to breathe life into a human being Robert Oppenheimer emaciated and mentally tortured, knowing full well that his work would end the lives of thousands of people.
Florence Pughwho plays Oppenheimer’s journalist and lover, Jean Tatlockgave an interview for the Extra TV show in which he admitted that Murphy had an incredible bond with the role, so much so that he put himself on a very strict all-eat diet an almond a day.
“He had a monumental engagement. He could only eat one almond a day. I was so emaciated”Pugh explained during the conversation.
Florence Pugh claimed that Cillian Murphy only ate one almond a day to achieve Robert Oppenheimer’s scrawny look @OppenheimerFilm.
Previously, Cillian shared some details of the diet he was required to go through, but contrary to Pugh’s statements, the actor didn’t limit himself to eating one almond a day; The martini and cigarettes were also key to achieving that slim figure.
“I love playing with my body and Oppenheimer had a very distinct physique and silhouette that he wanted to nail perfectly. I had some slimming to do and we worked on costumes and tailoring; he was very thin, almost emaciated, he lived on martinis and cigaretteshe confessed to the New York Times in May.
Cigarettes and martinis were also part of Murphy’s strict diet.
Luckily for the Peaky Blinders protagonist, his ordeal didn’t last long, Oppenheimer’s footage shows lasted only 57 daysa record time compared to the 96 days of recording of Tenet and the 68 days of Dunkirk, tapes on which Murphy previously collaborated with Nolan.
Cillian’s transformation into Robert Oppenheimer didn’t just leave psychological scars; Some of the cast assured in an interview that the actor never went to lunch with them because “My brain was too full“. Murphy reinforced this idea, affirming, “When you have these big roles, these responsibilities, You feel like it’s overwhelming.”
However, it was not in Cillian’s mood to eat such small amounts. Playing such a complex character from such an introspective perspective filled the actor with “adrenaline” that almost automatically made him stop eating and sleeping.
Cillian Murphy also suffered mental health effects after playing Robert Oppenheimer (Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
“It’s like being on a damn train going at full speed. It’s BANG BANG BANG BANG. You sleep for a few hours, get up and do it again. He had crazy energy; I crossed a threshold of not caring about food or anything like that… But it was good because that was the character. I have never eaten.
And while Cillian takes great pride in his work and is probably the actor to beat for awards season, he reiterated that what he did for the role wasn’t healthy at all and doesn’t recommend following in his footsteps step.
“You get a little competitive with yourself, which isn’t healthy. I do not advise against it”.
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