Based on the 2005 biography "American Prometheus" by Kai Bird
and Martin J. Sherwin, Nolan's biological thriller "Oppenheimer"
features a stellar cast including Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr.,
Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy in the titular role, portraying
the man known as "the father of the atomic bomb".
"Oppenheimer's story is one of the most dramatic that I know of
and there are many, many aspects to what makes it so
compelling," Nolan told Reuters in a joint interview with
Murphy.
"I just thought to take the audience there, to be there in that
room with these people as they had to make these horrifying
decisions that have defined the world we now live in... what a
remarkable dramatic event to bring the audience to.”
Oppenheimer headed the secret Los Alamos Laboratory, established
under President Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of the Manhattan
Project to build the first atomic bomb.
He oversaw the first atomic bomb detonation in the New Mexico
desert, code-named "Trinity", before the weapons were used in
the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
"There is so much information (about Oppenheimer)... My job as
an actor is really to go after the humanity and the emotion, and
the complexity and the morality of the character," Murphy, who
has worked with Nolan previously, said.
"So I didn't really waste too much time on the physics, I did a
little bit... but it was the man I was after."
Nolan is known for conceptual narratives and visual style in
films like "Inception" "Tenet" and an instalment of the Batman
film franchise.
'Oppenheimer' is kind of the amalgam of every Chris Nolan movie
ever, all of which have been leading to a statement as kind of
profound as this but it's still edge of your seat
entertainment," Downey Jr. said.
"It was crazy to be part of shooting it and even crazier to
watch it.”
(Reporting by Alicia Powell; Additional reporting by Rollo Ross;
Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
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