Oppenheimer: Cillian Murphy calls Christopher Nolan’s screenplay the best script he’s ever read

After years of being a supporting actor for his frequent collaborator, Cillian Murphy was awestruck by Nolan’s writing for the film.

The newest trailer for Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer recently made its way online after exclusive showings in theaters. This latest footage really emphasizes how much Cillian Murphy will be carrying with this movie. It has been a long time coming too. Although he has worked on a large number of projects in Nolan’s career, this will be the first in which he is the lead. It almost feels like he’s worked his way through the ranks. Murphy has recently stated that he’s always hoped to star in one of Nolan’s movies. When he finally received the opportunity, he found the script for Oppenheimer to be the best he’s ever read.

Entertainment Weekly features the duo as they reminisce about their working relationship and how it came to a head with Oppenheimer. According to Nolan, he called Murphy up one day when, at the time, nobody knew what his next project would be, but Nolan would be offering the role to him. Murphy recalls, “It was one of the best days of my life. There was no preamble or anything, I just got the call. So it was incredibly exciting, and daunting, and terrifying, all at the same time.” Nolan, then, joked that it probably didn’t feel any less daunting after reading the script. Cillian would reply, “I’ll say this, it’s the best script I ever read, that’s for sure.”

Any anxiety Murphy had about stepping up to the plate was quelled when he instilled his trust in his director. After loving the script, Murphy felt, “That added massively to the terror. [Laughs] But when it’s Christopher Nolan, you just have that confidence. You believe 100 percent in his vision, as I have always done. So it was terribly exciting.” Co-star Florence Pugh was recently glowing about her time on set and Murphy shared her enthusiasm on the experience, “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.”

Oppenheimer will be opening on July 21.