Cillian Murphy admits going over 'threshold' with 'unhealthy' Oppenheimer transformation
Cillian Murphy starred in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer in 2023 and has since been nominated for the Best Actor in a Lead Role at the 2024 Academy Awards.
Cillian Murphy is on track to scoop his first-ever Academy Award for his portrayal of J. Robert Oppenheimer. The Irish star is nominated in the Best Actor category and is set to be in attendance at the Oscar award ceremony on Sunday, 10 March.
The 47-year-old has already earned himself a Golden Globe, a Screen Actor’s Guild and a Satellite Award for his efforts in Oppenheimer - the 2023 Christopher Nolan thriller. The gargantuan project tells the story of the American theoretical physicist, better known as the ‘father of the atomic bomb’.
The movie marks the first time in Cillian’s career that he has taken on a lead role in one of the 53-year-old projects. Throughout their 20-year partnership, the father-of-two has always appeared in supporting roles.
However, in 2021 it was announced that Cillian was in negotiations to star as the biopic’s titular lead. After receiving the script from Christopher in September, the actor underwent a rigorous and intense physical transformation which both he and co-star Emily Blunt have previously discussed.
In an interview with Extra, Emily, 41, - who is also nominated for her role as Kitty Oppenheimer - admitted: “He had such a monumental undertaking. And he could only eat, like, an almond every day. He was so emaciated.”
Emily also said that her on-screen husband had thought about “every detail” and there weren’t many working actors who could be as “magnetic as him”.
Speaking to the New York Times last year, Cillian claimed that it took him five months before Oppenheimer started shooting to get ready for the role.
“I love acting with my body, and Oppenheimer had a very distinct physicality and silhouette, which I wanted to get right,” he told the publication.
“I had to lose quite a bit of weight, and we worked with the costume and tailoring; he was very slim, almost emaciated, existed on martinis and cigarettes.”
He continued to say that the infamous scientist had bright eyes and that he worked hard to hone his expressions to perfect his character’s apperance.
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Cillian has also referenced his intense weight-loss regime in an interview with The Guardian and admitted he’d allowed it to become ‘competitive’.
“I was running on crazy energy; I went over a threshold to where I was not worrying about food or anything.
“You become competitive with yourself a little bit which is not healthy. I don’t advise it,” he admitted.
Elsewhere, Oppenheimer’s Matt Damon claimed it had been a “marathon” for the lead actor to complete his role.
Matt, 53, who portrays U. S. Army Lieutenant General Leslie Groves in the project, said: “It’s beautiful to watch someone give themselves to it fully.”
The Cork native faces stiff competition at the 96th Academy Awards, with Paul Giamatti’s performance in The Holdovers and Colman Dingo’s Rustin also getting nods.
Jefferey Wright’s portrayal of Dr. Thelonious ‘Monk’ Ellison in American Fiction is also nominated in the Best Leading Actor category alongside Bradley Cooper in Maestro.
Oppenheimer’s Robert Downey Jr. is nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category while the director himself is up for Best Director gong.
Christopher’s three-hour-long epic has received 13 nods in total at the 2024 Oscars including: Best Original Score, Best Picture and Best Costume Design.
Tune into the Oscars ceremony on ITV1 and ITVX from 10:30pm on Sunday, 10 March.