Cillian Murphy has opened up about his sex scenes with Florence Pugh in the new atomic bomb biopic Oppenheimer, remarking that they were ‘not gratuitous’.
The Irish actor, 47, stars as the titular character, scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, while Florence, 27, portrays psychiatrist and Communist Party member, Jean Tatlock.
The characters were romantically involved prior to, and during, Oppenheimer’s marriage to wife Katherine ‘Kitty’ Oppenheimer, who is played in the historical drama by Emily Blunt.
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Cillian insisted that while Florence’s role in the film is relatively short, the steamy scenes were needed and are ‘so ‘f***ng powerful’.
He said: ‘Those [sex] scenes were written deliberately. He knew that those scenes would get the movie the rating that it got.
Role: Cillian Murphy has opened up about his sex scenes with Florence Pugh in the new atomic bomb biopic Oppenheimer, remarking that they were ‘not gratuitous’
Passionate: Cillian insists that while Florence’s role in the film is relatively short, the steamy scenes were needed and will be ‘so ‘f***ng powerful’ when viewers get around to seeing it’
‘And I think when you see it, it’s so f***ng powerful. And they’re not gratuitous. They’re perfect. And Florence is just amazing.’
The sizzling scenes earned the movie a 15 rating in cinemas, due to its ‘infrequent nudity and sexual content’.
The Peaky Blinders star went on to praise the Don’t Worry Darling star as ‘phenomenal’ and has told how he’s been a fan of her work for some time.
He added: ‘I have loved Florence’s work since Lady Macbeth and I think she’s f***ing 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.’
It comes after Christopher Nolan said he was ‘appropriately nervous and appropriately careful’ in his first time filming sex scenes, for his new movie Oppenheimer.
The Oscar-nominated filmmaker, 52, spoke with Insider on Wednesday about making the motion picture, which arrived in cinemas on Friday.
‘Any time you’re challenging yourself to work in areas you haven’t worked in before, you should be appropriately nervous and appropriately careful and planned and prepared,’ the London native said of the love scenes.
Nolan told the outlet that the scenes played an ‘essential part’ in establishing the relationship between Oppenheimer and Tatlock, whose link to the American Communist Party led to suspicion of Oppenheimer being a Soviet spy.
Characters: The Irish actor, 47, stars as the titular character, scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, while Florence, 27, portrays psychiatrist and Communist Party member, Jean Tatlock
High praise: ‘I think when you see it, it’s so f***ng powerful. And they’re not gratuitous. They’re perfect. And Florence is just amazing’
Director: It comes after Christopher Nolan said he was ‘appropriately nervous and appropriately careful’ in his first time filming sex scenes, for his new movie Oppenheimer
‘When you look at Oppenheimer’s life and you look at his story,’ Nolan said, ‘that aspect of his life, the aspect of his sexuality, his way with women, the charm that he exuded, it’s an essential part of his story.’
Nolan, who has directed films including The Dark Knight, Inception and Dunkirk, said that ‘it felt very important to understand their relationship and to really see inside it and understand what made it tick without being coy or allusive about it.’
He added the idea was ‘to try to be intimate, to try and be in there with him and fully understand the relationship that was so important to him.’
Nolan praised the work of Cillian and Florence in their respective roles; and that he ‘immediately felt a creative connection’ with Florence in their first collaboration.
‘I felt this is somebody who could bring Jean Tatlock to life,’ he said of her, ‘and have the audience understand the significance of this figure in Oppenheimer’s life.’
