As reported byVariety, directorChristopher Nolanrecently revealed toEntertainment Weeklythat he cast “a lot of real scientists” asOppenheimerextras.Oppenheimer, a historical drama about J. Robert Oppenheimerand the atomic bomb, stars Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, and Florence Pugh. Still, according to the Dark Knight director, his inclusion of real-life scientists added authenticity to the film.
Nolan stated, “We were in the real Los Alamos and we had a lot of real scientists as extras. We needed the crowd of extras to give reactions, and improvise, and we were getting sort of impromptu, very educated speeches. It was really fun to listen to.”
He went on to say, “You’ve been on sets where you’ve got a lot of extras around and they’re more or less thinking about lunch. These guys were thinking about the geopolitical implications of nuclear arms and knew a lot about it. It actually was a great reminder every day of: We have to be really on our game, we have to be faithful to the history here, and really know what we’re up to.”
The filmmaker also spoke about the cast of the film and said, “Every day, you had these phenomenal actors, who are heroes of mine, coming in. Every day, you were having to raise your game to work with these legends. Everybody was so unbelievably well-prepared. Every single actor, no matter what size their role or the significance of their character in history, each one of them had this massive depth of knowledge that they could draw on.”
Still, even though Nolan brought actual scientists onto the set, Murphy previously revealed that he didn’t worry too much aboutthe science behind the atomic bomb while preparing to play Oppenheimer. Instead, the actor stated that he prepped himself by reading everything he could about the theoretical physicist.
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Cillian Murphy Previously Revealed That He Prepared for His Role by Reading About J. Robert Oppenheimer
Murphy toldThe Guardianlast year, “[I prepped by doing] an awful lot of reading. I’m interested in the man and what [inventing the atomic bomb] does to the individual. The mechanics of it, that’s not really for me — I don’t have the intellectual capability to understand them, but these contradictory characters are fascinating.”
Likewise, to stay faithful to real life, Nolan managed to recreate atomic bomb explosions without the use of CGI.
Earlier this year, the Tenet director toldTotal Film Magazine, “I think recreating the Trinity test [the first nuclear weapon detonation, in New Mexico] without the use of computer graphics was a huge challenge to take on. Andrew Jackson — my visual effects supervisor, I got him on board early on — was looking at how we could do a lot of the visual elements of the film practically, from representing quantum dynamics and quantum physics to the Trinity test itself, to recreating, with my team, Los Alamos up on a mesa in New Mexico in extraordinary weather, a lot of which was needed for the film, in terms of the very harsh conditions out there — there were huge practical challenges.”
