Cillian Murphy Ate An Almond Everyday to Fit Into Oppenheimer’s Physical Traits

The performance of the characters especially Cillian Murphy who plays the titular role of J Robert Oppenheimer, ‘the father of the atomic bomb’, was particularly praiseworthy according to new reports. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is described as a “masterpiece” for its action sequences, outstanding performances, cinematography and many other crucial aspects of the film. 

Cillian’s performance has been appreciated by many moviegoers. In fact many media outlets suggest that he took extreme steps to portray the physicist’s character and his life which were infused with conflicts and complexities. 

Cillian not only did heavy research on the life of Robert Oppenheimer but also made immense diet changes to look like him. 

In an interview with Extra TV, Emily Blunt who plays Oppenheimer’s wife Kitty made some startling revelations regarding Cillian Murphy’s diet. 

“He had such a monumental undertaking. And he could only eat, like, an almond every day. He was so emaciated,” she said.

Blunt told Entertainment Tonight that Murphy skipped dinners most of the time due to his strict diet restrictions. He would eat “one almond most nights or a little slice of apple.” 

Matt Damon said “He was losing so much weight for the part that he just didn’t eat dinner ever.”

Cillian Murphy admitted that going to such extremes to fit into a character is not healthy. In an interview with The New York Times, he said, “I love acting with my body, and Oppenheimer had a very distinct physicality and silhouette, which I wanted to get right. I had to lose quite a bit of weight, and we worked with the costume and tailoring; he was very slim, almost emaciated, and existed on martinis and cigarettes.”

“You become competitive with yourself a little bit which is not healthy. I don’t advise it”, he told Guardian. 

Going to such an extreme length, to fit into a character, only goes to show the actor’s passion and dedication to his work which has finally paid off.