Cillian Murphy describes intimate scenes with Florence Pugh in ‘Oppenheimer’ as ‘Perfect’

Jean Tatlock is a young Stanford Medical School student and Communist Party member and Oppenheimer's lover.

Los Angeles: Actor Cillian Murphy has said his sex scenes with Florence Pugh in ‘Oppenheimer’ are “perfect”.

The ‘Peaky Blinders’ star, who is from Cork, Ireland, plays the lead in ‘Oppenheimer’. Murphy said the sex scenes with co-star Florence Pugh, who plays love interest Jean Tatlock, actually have a good reason for appearing in the film.

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Jean Tatlock is a young Stanford Medical School student and Communist Party member and Oppenheimer’s lover.

While Florence Pugh had a shorter screen time than expected, her scenes definitely have a huge impact in the movie. Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald about the sex scenes, Murphy said: “Those scenes were written deliberately. He knew that those scenes would get the movie the rating that it got. And I think when you see it, it’s so f***** powerful. And they’re not gratuitous. They’re perfect. And Florence is just amazing.”

Praising Pugh’s work, he continued: “I have loved Florence’s work since ‘Lady Macbeth’ (William Oldroyd’s 2016 period drama about a woman embittered by a loveless marriage) and I think she’s f***** phenomenal. She has this presence as a person and on screen that is staggering. The impact she has (in ‘Oppenheimer‘) for the size of the role, it’s quite devastating.”

The film is director Christopher Nolan’s first romantic story, in the sense that Oppenheimer’s complex and passionate relationship with his mistress Jean (Pugh) is a central thread of the story.

Development on ‘Oppenheimer’ was announced in September 2021, with Murphy approached by Nolan’s wife, producer Emma Thomas, to play the lead.

Even though Murphy and Nolan had collaborated on Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ films (2005-2012), ‘Inception’ (2010) and ‘Dunkirk’ (2017), the pair are not particularly close. “Myself and Chris don’t keep in touch, you know,” Murphy said.

“We don’t hang out and go to have pizza. We work together. And then we don’t see each other, and then we work. So, when I got a call from Emma, I knew it must’ve been about something. And then Chris got on the phone, and he said, this is my next project, I’d like you to be my Oppenheimer.”

Explaining his reaction, Murphy says: “I had to f****** sit down. But it was one of those great, glorious, pure moments of the kind of joy that you get only a few times in your life.”

Murphy also said he did a lot of research for his role.

“You can do all the research, and I did for ‘Oppenheimer’, I did six months of research, but when it comes down to it, it’s just you and the other actors and the director, and what matters is the truth… and that moment,” Murphy added.

“All the f***** research in the world isn’t going to help you there. I’ve become better at doing that, being open.” Murphy also said he does not see himself as a celebrity, and his anonymity is one of the most important tools in the actor’s toolkit.

“I don’t know if (fame) is destructive, but I don’t think it’s useful,” Murphy said.

“I’ve always felt that way. It always seemed logical to me that the less people know about you, the more willing they are to invest in you on screen. That seems entirely logical to me.”