The Secret of Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer Script Note to Cillian Murphy – What Did It Say?

Summary

• Christopher Nolan is loved by audiences for his creativity and by actors for his personality.
• Cillian Murphy recently shared the story of how he came to play Robert Oppenheimer.
• Christopher Nolan left a heartfelt note on the actor's copy of the script.
• The director takes many precautions to protect his projects.

Christopher Nolan is perhaps one of the most famous contemporary directors whose attention to detail has earned him a positive reputation over the years. The man behind the Christian Bale-led Batman trilogy and such hits as Inception and Interstellar is recognized around the world for his filmmaking genius, and hordes of actors dream of working with him.

But it's not just Nolan's filmmaking wizardry that draws actors to him. It is also the director's kind and warm personality that captivates people. For example, Nolan left a very heartwarming and affectionate note on Cillian Murphy's copy of the Oppenheimer script.

An Expression of Admiration

In a recent interview with 60 Minutes' Scott Pelley, Cillian Murphy, who portrayed the father of the atomic bomb in Nolan's hit 2023 biopic, showed off his copy of the Oppenheimer script. According to the actor, he first saw the script when Christopher Nolan visited him in Dublin and let him read it in the hotel room.

The neatly bound, thick pile of red paper had a white cover with Nolan's sweet foreword: 'Dearest Cillian. Finally, a chance to see you lead… Love, Chris.'

Cillian Murphy read the script and was quite impressed. He kept the copy, and that's how his journey with Oppenheimer began.

Nolan's Tradition

Remarkably, Oppenheimer wasn't the first movie Christopher Nolan and Cillian Murphy had worked on together. The two had previously collaborated on The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, and Dunkirk, but Murphy had played a supporting role in those films. Oppenheimer, on the other hand, was his first starring role in a Nolan production.

Interestingly, the red paper script didn't surprise Cillian Murphy, as the actor, who has experience working with Christopher Nolan, explained that it was the director's habit.

'[The script is] always printed on red paper with black ink, unhelpfully, I guess to prevent photocopying but I don't know who photocopies in 2024. Anyway, he's always had a tradition of printing [scripts] on red paper with black ink,' Murphy said of the director's precautionary measures. 'Then it has my name kind of watermarked on each page [in case the script gets leaked, so everybody will know] that it's my fault.'

Apparently, it was worth it, as Oppenheimer became one of the most successful premieres of 2023 and now leads the Oscar race with a whopping thirteen nominations. However, it remains to be seen how many awards the film will end up winning.

Source: CBS News.