Cillian Murphy never joined his “Oppenheimer” castmates for dinner while shooting because he was abiding by a strict diet for his role.
During an interview with “Oppenheimer” stars, Emily Blunt and Matt Damon, the two opened up about their time on the film’s set and how it felt like a “summer camp” experience because they were shooting in a remote location that only had one restaurant.
“It’s unusual for all the actors to be on location together, and we were shooting this really remote location in the middle of the New Mexican desert,” Blunt said. “There was one restaurant; that was it. And we all went to have dinner.”
Damon chimed in: “It wasn’t like a restaurant that was open 24 hours. It was like open for breakfast, lunch and dinner,” Damon said. “It was like the dining hall, you’d go in and you’d see everybody. So everyone would just end up sitting together.”
However, the one person who never showed up for a meal with the cast was Murphy.
“We invited Cillian to dinner every night and he never went,” Damon said.
When asked what food Murphy would consume Blunt said, “One almond most nights. Or like, a little slice of apple.”
Damon explained that Murphy’s strict dietary regimen was all for the actor’s role as J. Robert Oppenheimer.
“He couldn’t… he was losing so much weight for the part that he just, didn’t eat dinner,” Damon said.
“Oppenheimer” was written and directed by Christopher Nolan, and tells the story of real-life theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “American Prometheus,” which was written by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.