“I’m getting tired”: Christopher Nolan Almost Turned Into Stanley Kubrick For 1 Scene in ‘Oppenheimer’
With a box office collection of $926 million, Christopher Nolan’s magnum opus project, Oppenheimer became one of the biggest blockbusters of 2023. The biographical saga has given tough competition to Greta Gerwig’s Barbie in the Awards season this year. From sweeping his first Golden Globe Award for direction to Cillian Murphy being recognized for his phenomenal acting – Oppenheimer has been making broad headlines across the globe.
During a recent interview with a reputed media outlet, Robert Downey Jr revealed about filming a scene with Christopher where he almost turned into the reputed director Stanley Kubrick.
When Christopher Nolan Turned Into Legendary Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick During The Filming Of Oppenheimer
Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, and Robert Downey Jr recently appeared for a roundtable interview with the famous entertainment outlet Vanity Fair. The Oppenheimer actors discussed their experience with the Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Christopher Nolan and even reflected on their favorite scenes. While talking about his favorite scene from Oppenheimer, Robert Downey Jr, recalled-
” There’s a scene, where he (Lewis Strauss) doesn’t get his appointment. All the veneer has to come down. You have to see, who has been running the show the whole time. And I’m there. It’s me, Alden, and Scott Grimes, we blocked, we blocked it and then it made kind of more sense and he gave me a little more room. Then we did it, did it, did it.”
He further shared-
“And I thought I had it, and I was like all right, I’m getting tired. And I thought we had it, and there he goes – we may it or we may not but, no I know I may have got something else in you, and I was like Yeah! No, you don’t. Anyways, it was one of those things where he was like ” I’m sorry but we did not come this far for me to let you off the hook, even if there’s nothing left to find, we still have time. I’m not rushing and by the way, I’m not trying to shoot tomorrow, today. I’m just trying to shoot today, today. So you are fucked until we are done.”
Great actors are not built in a day and most importantly their potentiality can only be seen by great filmmakers and now it is next to impossible to imagine someone else, playing the character of Lewis Strauss other than Robert Downey Jr. Christopher Nolan’s love for extracting the perfect detailed shot is similar to legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick.
Robert Downey Jr believes the Success Of Oppenheimer Has Been Difficult For Christopher Nolan
With the massive success of Oppenheimer at the Golden Globes, and Critic’s Choice Awards and with 13 Academy Awards nominations, the movie has left behind critically acclaimed projects like Past Lives, Killers Of The Flower Moon, Barbie, and Anatomy Of A Fall. During a recent appearance at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, Robert Downey Jr was present to honor Nolan with the Sundance Institute Trailblazer Award. The Marvel actor spoke to Entertainment Weekly and explained how the success of Oppenheimer has taken a toll on the introverted filmmaker Christopher Nolan. He said-
“Confidentially, he needs his spirits lifted. He’s a bit blue because a terrible tragedy has befallen him. I don’t mean to bring this up, and I know it’s very personal: He has become recognizable on the street. He recoils as though from a hot flame from this new and most unwelcome reality.”
Read Also: Real Reason Christopher Nolan Did Not Trust Emily Blunt With Oppenheimer Script
In July 2023, the Inception director appeared for an interview with the Los Angeles Times and spoke about Oppenheimer and the cast of the sci-fi dram. While talking about the Iron Man star, he said-
“He’s one of our great actors, and though a generation of kids know what a great movie star he is, they’ve not seen his subtlety and brilliance. I wanted to get him to do something completely different, to lose himself in another human being. When was the last time we’ve seen that? ‘Chaplin’? Directors are very aware of how talented Downey is, but because of his incredible energy that can punch through the screen, finding the right thing for him is difficult.”
With the highest number of Oscar nominations, there is a strong possibility of Oppenheimer sweeping the maximum number of awards at the 96th Academy Awards.
