Cillian Murphy was on the mother of all diets to play the father of the atomic bomb in Oppenheimer.
“He had such a monumental undertaking,” actress Emily Blunt, who plays his on-screen wife in the Christopher Nolan movie, told Extra. “And he could only eat, like, an almond every day. He was so emaciated.”
Blunt might have been exaggerating with his one almond-a-day diet, although it is funny to imagine Cillian Murphy slicing a single bean into three parts, Mickey Mouse-style, for three meals. And by funny, I mean horrifying. Did he learn nothing from his Batman Begins co-star Christian Bale
Murphy previously discussed how he prepared for Oppenheimer. “I love acting with my body, and Oppenheimer had a very distinct physicality and silhouette, which I wanted to get right,” he told the New York Times. “I had to lose quite a bit of weight, and we worked with the costume and tailoring; he was very slim, almost emaciated, existed on martinis and cigarettes.” Murphy added, “He had these really bright eyes and I wanted to give him this wide-eyed look, so we worked on his silhouette and expressions a lot before starting.”
Oppenheimer comes out this week on the same day as Barbie, as you might have heard. I hope Murphy celebrates by, like, eating a taco.