Oppenheimer filming schedule was arranged around Cillian Murphy's hair

21 July 2023 , 15:43

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Director Christopher Nolan reveals that he filmed the scenes of Oppenheimer around Cillian Murphy's haircut (Image: AP)

Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan recently revealed a strange factor in the filming of his latest war drama - that everyone's schedule needed to revolve around Peaky Blinder's star Cillian Murphy's hair. The Oscar award-winning director said that he is 'very allergic to wigs' in his movies.

In the biopic, Murphy plays theoretical physicist Robert J. Oppenheimer in a story based on a true events. And since the film spans the highs and lows of Oppenheimer's life from the 1920s to the 1960s, the actor needs to sport quite a few hairdos.

The Interstellar director revealed in an interview with The New York Times that he purposefully scheduled the filming of different scenes around Murphy's haircut so he never needed to wear a wig.

Irish actor Cillian Murphy sports a very short buzz cut in his portrayal of Robert J. Oppenheimer in the new war drama (Melinda Sue Gordon)

The Oscar award-winning filmmaker said: "I did insist on scheduling it around Cillian's haircut. [Laughs] Because I'm very allergic to wigs in movies. I really wanted the film to not have any obvious artifice when it came to the way characters presented themselves."

Nolan is notoriously for keeping his special effects to a minimum and prides himself on keeping his films as practical and authentic as possible - which in this case means keeping fake wigs out of the spotlight. Although the war drama hasn't hit the big screens yet, Murphy has been pictured in a variety of hairstyles in Oppenheimer from a buzz-cut to a short, clean cut to a long, more disheveled style.

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Cillian Murphy has a short, clean-cut haircut as he plays Florence Pugh's love interest in Oppenheimer (AP)

The A Quiet Place star has worked with Nolan on a number of famous films before including Batman Begins, Inception, The Dark Knight, and Dunkirk. But despite their close work relationship, Murphy did not know that Nolan was working on Oppenheimer until he asked him if he wanted to play the main character.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Murphy said: "Chris' way of operating is that he just calls you out of the blue. I genuinely had no idea. He said he was making a movie about Oppenheimer and he said, 'I'd like you to play Oppenheimer.' I had to sit down. It was kind of overwhelming."

After accepting the dynamic role, Murphy went straight to work. For five months from rehearsing lines to starting a grueling diet of an 'almond a day' the dedicated actor went to great lengths to accurately portray the 'father of the atomic bomb.' And after the duo's hard work, the film is finally coming to theaters Friday, July 21.

Caroline Gaspich