Oppenheimer is one of the most anticipated movies of the year.
One of the many reasons for that could be its strangely familiar leading man.
There are quite a few familiar faces among the cast for Christopher Nolan's new epic biographical
drama Oppenheimer, including Marvel alum Robert Downey Jr. and Midsommar star Florence Pugh.
However, audiences may be most intrigued by just how familiar the titular scientist,
J. Robert Oppenheimer himself, looks to them — and it's not just because
he's a well-known historical figure. As a matter of fact, Oppenheimer is portrayed
by one of Nolan's most long-standing collaborators, actor Cillian Murphy.
Murphy has been a notable name in film and TV for decades at this point. In all of that time,
he's appeared in a number of Nolan's most popular movies,
but he has also featured in plenty of notable productions outside of that sphere.
Murphy began work as an actor in 1996, mainly appearing in theatrical productions,
small movies, and short films. The now-renowned actor's breakout role was
actually as the lead of Danny Boyle's 2002 apocalypse movie 28 Days Later.
In the film, Murphy portrays a bicycle courier named Jim,
who awakens from a coma to find that society has collapsed due to a virus that makes hosts
incredibly aggressive. Together with several other non-infected people, Jim fights to survive.
In a 2022 interview with NME looking back on 28 Days Later, Murphy credited
the film as having helped him establish him in the film industry. In retrospect,
it could even be viewed as the first domino that led to his role as Oppenheimer. He explained,
"It opened doors for me. I managed to get meetings. I met Christopher
Nolan through that, so it was massive for me."
Not long after 28 Days Later, Murphy entered the world of superhero stardom
in his first project with Nolan: 2005's Batman Begins. The first film
in Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy starred Murphy opposite Christian Bale as the DC vigilante.
In the movie, Murphy plays Batman's nemesis, Scarecrow, a sadistic psychologist who uses
a specialized fear toxin to drive his victims mad. Murphy's Scarecrow would only be a main
antagonist for the first movie in the trilogy, but he nevertheless returned as the character
in cameo roles for the subsequent entries, 2008's The Dark Knight and 2012's The Dark Knight Rises.
A popular bit of trivia for Batman Begins is that Murphy initially auditioned for
the role of Batman. Of course, he didn't land the part, but he did impress Nolan
enough to get a major part and become one of his most trusted collaborators.
While Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy was still playing out in 2010,
Murphy joined the esteemed director for Inception, the twist-filled,
mind-bending epic now considered to be one of the best action movies of all time.
In the movie, Leonardo DiCaprio's Dom Cobb leads a team in performing a dream-based heist
in order to topple a business empire. Murphy plays Robert Fischer, their unassuming target
who gets wrapped up in life-threatening thrills when the heist goes sideways.
"I said right
now! Right now."
"5 2 8 4 9 1."
In an interview with Collider around the time that Inception released,
Murphy spoke at length about why he enjoys working with Nolan as a filmmaker. He explained,
"For him the performance is paramount. It's the connection between the actors.
He allows room for spontaneity. You know you would imagine spontaneity in a $200
million movie is not particularly high on the list of priorities but for Chris it is."
Not content to simply become a dominant force in the world of modern movies,
Murphy also starred as the lead of one of the most popular TV shows of the 2010s:
the gritty period crime drama Peaky Blinders.
In the series, Murphy portrays early 20th century gang leader Tommy Shelby throughout
all six seasons. As Shelby, Murphy goes to very dark and vulnerable places over the
course of the series, and his performance has been recognized with several awards.
"Open your eyes, or I will cut away your f------ eyelids."
In the beginning of his nearly 10-year period filming Peaky Blinders,
Murphy had reservations about the role. However, the long-term nature
of the project ultimately turned out to be a uniquely fulfilling experience for him.
Speaking about how playing Tommy was different from any other role he's had,
Murphy told Entertainment Weekly,
"I did lots of other things, but I've never had that experience of growing
older with a character or being able to inhabit it
to a point where the character starts thinking for you in the performance."
One of Murphy's more recent cinematic roles of note saw the actor once again
diving into full-fledged horror. While he wasn't in the original,
Murphy joined the cast of John Krasinski's popular scare flick A Quiet Place Part II.
Murphy plays Emmett, an old family friend of the Abbotts
who helps Evelyn and her kids fight back against the bloodthirsty aliens that have
conquered Earth. Murphy amps up the emotion in his portrayal of Emmett,
who starts off in a morose state due to the death of his family. Over the course of the movie,
Emmett forges a trusted bond with young Regan, and regains his sense of humanity and hope.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter,
Murphy noted that his mostly non-verbal role in A Quiet Place Part II was unique,
in that it allowed him to reach back to some of his earliest experiences acting. He explained,
"I did theater for about four or five years before I ever did any screen work. So I feel
like I've done a lot of physical acting, and since I've continued to do theater,
it was a real sort of liberating experience to get to explore some of that on screen."