Yeah, Irish people can't take praise.
[LAUGHTER] MATT DAMON: Let it in.
I know.
He just turned to dust, if you're wondering where he went.
[LAUGHS]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
We're in a race against the Nazis.
And I know what it means if the Nazis have a bomb.
How compelled did you feel to try to go deep on the world
of quantum physics?
Did you try to understand it at any level?
- Cillian? - I'll start with you.
- Me? - Yeah.
[LAUGHS] I figured out pretty quickly
that it would have been a waste of time
to try to understand anything significantly
about quantum mechanics.
Seriously though, my job was to kind of go after the humanity
of the character.
And, frankly, there's probably like a tiny percentage
of people on the planet who can have a proper grasp
of that level of physics.
Chris being one of them.
CILLIAN MURPHY: Chris being one of them.
Yeah.
I did speak to Kip Thorne, who was
this advisor on the film, who was also
the advisor on Interstellar.
Yeah.
And he's great at kind of breaking it down.
So I had a kind of, you know, vague conceptual grasp
of what was going on.
But these guys are operating on a completely,
completely different level.
If we could understand the science to that level,
that's what we would be doing with our lives.
Yeah.
Like, it really is about trying to get
across the interpersonal dynamics
between these characters, the-- you know,
what Oppenheimer must have lived with.
That's what-- Chris, when he came to us with the movie,
you know, the supporting players, it was very clear.
The script was written in the first person.
It was very much Oppenheimer's experience.
It was through his eyes.
And he was like, this movie is going to be entirely riding
on the back of that performance and what
this person lived with.
And I need actors in support of that.
And so, that was really our job.
So I-- we all had different dynamics
with the Oppenheimer character.
So we looked at those.
For me, it was from the military side, and Groves, my character,
ran the Manhattan Project and hired
him as the scientific director.
So they had this kind of natural tension
because they looked at the world in a different way.
But it was really all about how our characters affected him
and added to this kind of burden that he had and kind of
haunted him through his life.
-
Fascinating that you all believe that Christopher Nolan
understood all of the science.
Working with him, did you see him more
as the scientist or the artist?
Like, his films often work right in that fertile
territory of dreams and technology, science and art.
- And engineering. - And engineering, of course.
Yeah. - You know what I mean?
You need to balance all those things as a filmmaker, right?
That's how I see him or, like, Jim Cameron, or those--
I've never worked with Cameron, but like, just
from looking at his movies, like, they have
that bit of engineer in them.
Like, when you look at Chris's, like,
the hallway fight in Inception.
And you realize-- he realized, oh, well if we
build the hallway and then hang it, and then put them on wires,
then we can turn it and we can make them-- you know?
He always has some kind of engineering idea.
And he's always pushing the tech.
Like on this, they invented black and white IMAX film.
- Oh, right. - Right?
Just for the movie, right?
Like, nobody's ever thought to do that.
And so, I think he's, like, equal part artist
and engineer maybe.
His breadth of abilities are just so vast.
And you feel that.
You know?
I feel like there must have been a hurricane
going on inside of him during this process,
none of which you see.
It's just encased in this very calm exterior.
And you're kind of kept from the chaos
of what it must have been like to create a film like this.
But I think he's in equal measures just
incredibly curious about the artistic pursuit
that actors go through.
And he wants to see what you're going to bring.
You just feel every day he was like, what else?
What else? Show me.
Show me. Show me.
It's just sort of wonderfully freeing,
you know, to work with someone like that, who is as invested
in what you can bring as he is in the engineering
and the structure of the film.
So, I mean, I just think there's no one who can do that.
Like, he's so groundbreaking in that way.
Yeah, I mean, like a David Lean, or a Hitchcock,
there's this mystique.
And I knew that Murphy was on the inside
because he was kind of, you know,
they're all thick as thieves.
And I think, for Emily-- and I'll speak for myself--
it was this real kind of intimidation factor.
Yeah.
And then, once you're there and doing it,
arguably one of the least judgmental directors
I've ever experienced.
True.
So it's not about control.
It's about precision.
And so, it really kind of created a whole new neural
pathway in my mind of how I've related
to that projection of director.
EMILY BLUNT: Yeah.
Because it's always the status thing.
Yes. Yes.
Yeah.
I think that's the weirdest thing about--
weird, or I don't know, if unique maybe,
most unique thing, is that, like, he's
got this incredible ambitious vision.
And yet, he doesn't visit any of that on you.
You have total creative freedom.
And he's genuinely interested, like Em was saying,
in what you're going to do.
And so it's like, he gets the best out of everybody
he's collaborating with and somehow
bakes that into his vision.
And all the boats kind of rise, rather than--
- That's the engineering. - Yeah.
Not a weird thing.
It's almost like an engineering of the humans
because all the rest of the stuff, trust me,
you will never be on a set that is more dialed in.
[LAUGHS] - Right.
Where the only thing that could go wrong is us.
Right. [LAUGHTER]
Which is weird because usually everything
else is chaotic and we're-- [LAUGHTER]
--you know, the calm in the eye of the storm.
Now hold on now, let's get this master.
Right. [LAUGHTER]
But as an actor with an improvisational background,
is that something that you could bring to this?
Is that something that he looks for as well?
Sure.
HOST: That he's looking to find something that's not--
He's not looking for it or not looking for it.
He did say, Robert, you seem to be doing
a lot of improv out there.
I-- if you get scared out there, just
float gently back to the text.
[LAUGHTER]
And it was like-- it wasn't a Jedi mind trick.
MATT DAMON: No, no, no.
He wasn't guffing me.
Again, he's kind of like a dad that you can't
have a beef with 'cause he's actually
just a really good parent.
Yeah.
That was the most disconcerting
of all the energies 'cause I'd had no
previous experience with that.
[LAUGHTER]
EMILY BLUNT: You love having beef with dad.
Well, now I have to ask, did you get
scared out there at any point? Was there something that--
Never. I was having a ball.
HOST: You and Christopher Nolan are thick as thieves.
But it took six films and twenty years
for him to give you a leading role.
Yeah. [LAUGHS]
Is that something that you feel you're in the long run
for?
I mean, this process went pretty well.
[LAUGHTER]
- With these guys? - Yeah.
Yeah. Are you?
Are you? - Oh, us?
No. HOST: Are you in it for--
only four more years-- four more films for you.
Well, he gave me a small part on Interstellar.
Then he put me on ice for a couple of movies.
Yeah. [LAUGHTER]
So I don't know.
Well, he put you on ice before you
were in Interstellar as well. MATT DAMON: That's true.
So I don't know.
I'm very confused about my status, but.
HOST: Yeah. [LAUGHTER]
I'm available.
Yeah.
[LAUGHTER]
- Matt, don't be too desperate. - Oh, sorry, sorry.
I think the thing is with Chris though--
I'm not available. [LAUGHTER]
When Chris calls, I think, any actor would go, yeah, I'm in.
- Whatever you want. - Of course.
Whatever you want, whatever size the part.
- Whatever you want. - We're like--
But like he was saying, Chris himself said, he doesn't
write with actors in mind. - Yes.
Because he goes, if I write with an actor in mind,
then I'm already limiting what the movie
can be because I'm thinking of something
they've already done, so.
Right.
Who knows, you know?
But he is adapting a book that has a striking resemblance
to you on the cover of it.
MATT DAMON: Well, it was the role of a lifetime.
I wonder how soon into writing it
he started thinking about you, though.
MATT DAMON: Yeah.
EMILY BLUNT: I just think there's
a part of me that just feels like, who
else can play that part, and--
But it was funny.
I think, a lot of us ended up looking like the characters
without-- - Worryingly.
[LAUGHS]
But, yeah, worryingly, like the characters.
You know? We kind of ended--
You mean like owners start looking like their pets?
[LAUGHTER] - Yeah, kind of.
[LAUGHS]
I mean--
- When I saw that first-- - That was it.
The one in the production office.
The blown up picture.
The blown up picture of Cillian.
An empty panel board.
EMILY BLUNT: Yeah. Yeah.
ROBERT DOWNEY JR: One picture. MATT DAMON: Yeah.
- You. - I was like, this is it.
- With the cigarette. - Oh, we're done.
- Yeah. - We're done.
[LAUGHTER]
Except, and again, we're not on the board yet.
[LAUGHTER] - Yeah.
And our pictures have to go up.
So it was this weird thing of, again, not
intimidation of, like, that self-centered actor
ego fear but more like rising to an occasion.
EMILY BLUNT: Yeah.
The like, oh, wow, like, I hate to use the I word,
but you're like, this is important.
Yeah.
When you're going to show up for this important thing
or not.
And, man, I have never in my whole life
seen someone do what you did.
Oh, man. EMILY BLUNT: Yeah.
And I think we would all attest to that.
- Yeah, for sure. - Yeah, 100%.
Oh, God. EMILY BLUNT: Yeah.
Irish people can't take praise.
ROBERT DOWNEY JR: Let it in. EMILY BLUNT: I know.
[LAUGHTER]
Look, he just wants to go completely in.
He just turned to dust, if you're wondering where he went.
[LAUGHTER]
You're like, where have I gone? - Thank you.
Please move on. [LAUGHTER]
Please move on.
But then, the subject matter is--
the I-word as well-- is so important.
Was that daunting beyond just trying to rise to the occasion
with Christopher Nolan?
No, it's knowing that Chris Nolan is making the story
and we're in it.
And so it wasn't daunting at all.
For me it was like, to me, it was
like, this is the appropriate director
matched to this incredibly important story.
Like, this is an obvious marriage made in heaven.
And we're the kids, you know, in the middle of it.
And so it wasn't daunting at all.
But I don't know how Cillian didn't lose his mind.
I-- - No, no, no.
For sure.
We looked at the schedule, we would pop in and out,
and you were there.
You were never not there.
EMILY BLUNT: Mm-hmm.
And none of us really know--
we knew in parts what the experience are.
But even just, if you just talk about it in terms of a lift--
Yeah.
- How? - Yeah.
Just give us a little about how.
But you know.
You get into a kind of a rhythm.
You get that kind of rhythm when you're in every single day
and you don't think about anything else,
and it just consumes you.
It's all you live and breathe. - Like a full possession.
Yeah, it's kind of like if you're in this--
yeah, it is kind of like a little bit like a possession.
But it was the best.
I mean, coming to work and, like, you look at the college
and you go, oh my God, I got a scene with Downey tomorrow.
And then I got a scene what Matt,
and I got a scene with Emily, and then
I got a scene with Gary Oldman.
It was-- I mean, what actor wouldn't-- that's just
a dream job.
HOST: Yeah.
And, of course, you got the best people in the world.
You've got to just raise your game every time.
It was just a-- - But stamina.
Stamina and the talent is crazy.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And how you did it eating a celery stick a day,
I don't know.
[LAUGHTER]
I do not know how you did it.
There's usually a target weight that you hit.
Yeah. [LAUGHTER]
And then, you know, the shirt's off
and you're in this certain gown or whatever.
Yeah.
And then you relax a little bit.
- No. - Nothing.
This was, as we crept, there was no day that you weren't
still on a mission because they were shooting as
much in sequence as possible. -
- Mm-hmm. - So we also saw--
He grew more and more emaciated.
--and what you also did, my brother,
was you hosted this for everyone else because the fish
stinks from the head. - [LAUGHS]
ROBERT DOWNEY JR: And if you come in
and Cillian's in a bit of a mood, because don't you know
all the pressure he's under, and he just had to do a lecture
in Dutch the day before.
And now he's got to do these five
scenes here just in scene two.
And that's where I really think you really, really--
It was that deliberate one foot in front of the other.
- Yeah, that's all it is. - You know what I mean?
- Yeah. - But it was just--
Well, I think you're saying the kindest words.
But I think it was just the atmosphere on set
was that everyone was there for the work, like, completely.
You know?
There's no trailers.
There's no, like, hierarchy.
Everyone's just there to do good work.
And that's because of Chris.
That's the atmosphere he creates.
You know?
And we all felt that it could be something
really, really special.
I think we all felt that.
How has your relationship with Christopher evolved?
Has he changed as a filmmaker, his approach?
No, I mean, I think he's just refining
and refining his vision. HOST: Yeah.
You know, I think this film might be his kind
of magnum opus, you know?
I think it's absolutely a stunning, stunning piece
of work.
What he's doing within the language of film,
I think nobody else is doing like he's doing it.
And he makes it for the theaters.
He makes it for that collective experience of strangers sitting
in the dark and watching this thing and being transported,
you know?
Nobody really does it like him, and it's
just terrifically satisfying to be involved in it.
EMILY BLUNT: Yeah.
It does feel so different.
The pace is almost dizzying.
Every scene, you know, you're talking
about these great scenes that you're getting to do,
but they're so short.
Did that feel different as far as,
like, the approach to making it?
We shot really fast. Right?
I mean, we shot it in like 57 days or something.
We were going all over America.
It was just like this train. MATT DAMON: Yeah.
CILLIAN MURPHY: But I have never seen a crew work like that.
The crew worked unbelievable. ROBERT DOWNEY JR: Yeah.
Like he works unbelievably fast, but then,
when you're actually doing the scenes--
You don't feel rushed.
You don't feel ever, ever, ever rushed.
No, no, no. - Yeah.
And they feel somehow intimate,
like Hoyte has this ability to operate
this giant IMAX camera and hold-- put it on his shoulder.
And because you're kind of all sitting around talking,
suddenly Hoyte has got the camera up,
and suddenly the scene's kind of happening.
CILLIAN MURPHY: Yeah. EMILY BLUNT: Mm-hmm.
And it doesn't feel like--
It's declared.
OK, everybody, we're going to do this now.
Let's go. - Yeah.
It's just kind of-- it just starts to happen.
And that's Chris's approach.
I never saw a mark.
Oh, no. No way.
Now, sometimes you'll do that because things
are hyper-specific and then you have freedom within it.
As long as you hit that mark, it's cool.
But it was always like, I'm not even--
we're not even doing that. - Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
And that was another kind of surprise
from what my projection might have been, you know?
Yeah.
There were no cranes.
There was no steadicam.
They kind of stripped it all back to the most
kind of basic toys, you know?
Just mostly dollies, right?
EMILY BLUNT: Yeah.
CILLIAN MURPHY: And then one camera for most of it.
It was-- I mean, it was just amazing to watch
those guys work. - Yes.
But I do agree, the pace of it,
like, the velocity of it when I saw it
was just dizzying and jarring.
HOST: Yes.
It was so like this runaway train.
And you kind of never want to get in front of it.
Which is his brain. [LAUGHTER]
- Oh, it's amazing. - Yeah, no.
Yeah, it's his brain.
It's Chris's brain, but it's Oppenheimer's brain.
- Yes. - That's what's--
CILLIAN MURPHY: Yeah. - Yes.
ROBERT DOWNEY JR: Yeah.
--carrying you through this story.
[MUSIC PLAYING]