Christopher Nolan Calls OPPENHEIMER Stars Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. Two of the Greatest Actors of All Time

Academy Award-winning director Christopher Nolan (Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, Tenet) is working on his next great ensemble story with the upcoming film Oppenheimer, which will tell the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), the scientist who ran the Manhattan Project that led to the creation of the atomic bomb during World War II. The film has been described as an “epic thriller that thrusts audiences into the pulse-pounding paradox of the enigmatic man who must risk destroying the world in order to save it.”

The rest of the cast includes Emily Blunt playing biologist and botanist Kitty Oppenheimer, Matt Damon as Manhattan Project director Leslie Groves Jr., and Robert Downey Jr. in the role of founding commissioner of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Lewis Strauss.

Florence Pugh is set to play psychiatrist Jean Tatlock, Benny Safdie will portray theoretical physicist Edward Teller and Josh Hartnett will embody pioneering American nuclear scientist Ernest Lawrence. The movie also stars Rami Malek, Gary Oldman, Michael Angarano, Alden Ehrenreich, Kenneth Branagh, Olivia Thirlby, and Matthew Modine.

In a recent interview with Total Film in the upcoming 2023 Preview issue (via gamesradar), Nolan sings the praises of Murphy and Downey Jr., first saying of Murphy:

"I’ve always known since I first met him – however many years ago it is now, almost 20 years – that he is one of the great actors, not just of his generation, but of all time. And I’ve been waiting for the project, and I know he has too, where we can collaborate with him as the lead, and I could put the most enormous weight – cinematic weight – on his shoulders, and watch him carry that burden. It was such a thrill to be able to call Cillian, and say, ‘This is it.’"

He went on:

"We all know that Robert Downey Jr. is one of the great movie stars. It’s so easy to forget that he’s also one of the greatest actors of all time. Watching him lose himself in that performance, and completely lose himself in a character in this way, was just an incredible reminder of just what an amazing actor he is."

I agree that both Murphy and Downey Jr. are fantastic actors, and it’s cool that they are putting on such a great performance in this film. Oppenheimer opens in theaters on July 21, 2023.