“This is the world doing this”: Cillian Murphy, Margot Robbie Claim Barbie and Oppenheimer Were Never Rivals
Cillian Murphy and Margot Robbie made history this year as both of their movies, Oppenheimer and Barbie, respectively were not only the highest-grossing movies at the box office but also the most critically acclaimed ones. Reflecting on the inventiveness of the directors of these movies Greta Gerwig (Barbie) and Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer), someone came up with the term Barbenheimer.
One thing led to another and soon Barbenheimer had become a global phenomenon as the internet was flooded with memes and jokes. So, what could have been an ugly competition between Cillian Muphy and Margot Robbie’s movies turned into something that helped boost their profits. Recently, the two stars sat down for an interview together in which they claimed that it was never a competition.
Cillian Murphy and Margot Robbie Insist That There Was No Competition
While Oppenheimer is a biographical epic about American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer who looked over the development of the atomic bomb, Barbie follows the titular character and her friend Ken on their journey of self-discovery as they try to overcome their existential crisis.
Evidently, these two movies are worlds apart, both literally and figuratively, as one of them deals depicts the life of a real person and the other deals with real-life problems. Despite the stark contrast in the storylines, fans were equally enthusiastic to watch both of these movies.
Addressing this in a recent interview with Variety, Cillian Murphy and Margot Robbie claimed that they had nothing to do with whatever happened. When asked if the marketing departments had anything to do with this, the Babylon actress would say: “No, this is the world doing this! This is not a part of the marketing campaign.”
Margot Robbie and Cillian Murphy team up for Variety’s #ActorsOnActors:
When Barbie Meets Oppenheimer: Margot Robbie and Cillian Murphy Discuss Their Blockbuster Hits in Epic ‘Barbenheimer’ Conversation https://t.co/5IwVjNm7Us pic.twitter.com/Loy3kZ1nZi
— Variety (@Variety) December 5, 2023
Murphy agreed with Robbie, saying:
“And I think it happened because both movies were good. In fact, that summer, there was a huge diversity of stuff in the cinema, and I think it just connected in a way that you or I or the studios or anybody could never have predicted.”
The Wolf of Wall Street actress went on to say that this was not something that could have been forced or planned. The interview concluded with Cillian Murphy musing that such a thing may never happen again.
Cillian Murphy Didn’t Know Much About the Character He was Going to Play
Everyone knows who Barbie is (not Margot Robbie). Generation after generation of kids have spent their time playing with Mattel’s dolls. Maybe some people even knew about Oppenheimer, but most probably did not know the in-depth details of his life. Cillian Murphy stood no exception.
When Margot Robbie asked the Peaky Blinders star if he was familiar with the character Christopher Nolan was asking him to play, he said:
“I knew the very basic Wikipedia level. I knew about the Trinity tests, and I knew about the Manhattan Project and then obviously what happened in ’45. But I didn’t know what happened afterwards or anything like that.”
Murphy also went on to reveal that he would walk around his basement talking to himself to prepare for the role. He also had many pictures of the physicist to help him understand the physical aspects of the character.
