Christopher Nolan: Cillian Murphy is 'one of the great actors of his generation'

Oppenheimer is the story of a man who changed the world forever. Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy and more talk to Rachael Davis about the epic film

Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer. ’Oppenheimer’ director Christopher Nolan says Murphy is “one of the great actors of his generation. Picture: Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures/© Universal Pictures

Upon witnessing the detonation of the world’s first nuclear bomb on July 16, 1945, J Robert Oppenheimer, the “father of the atomic bomb”, reportedly displayed an expression of “tremendous relief”.

Having worked tirelessly on this weapon of mass destruction as head of the Manhattan Project, fearful that Nazi Germany could develop a nuclear arsenal before any other country, it’s no surprise that the world-leading physicist was glad that the Trinity test was successful.