Oppenheimer Star Praises Christopher Nolan’s Filmmaking Style
Oppenheimer actor Alden Ehrenreich praises director Christopher Nolan and describes the unique atmosphere present on-set. Starring Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, Nolan’s upcoming historical drama/ biopic chronicles the titular character’s creation of the atomic bomb. The movie is set to feature one of the most impressive casts in recent memory, with Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, and Gary Oldman among the many stars expected to appear.
The Oppenheimer release date is still about five months away, but Ehrenreich has now shared a few interesting details with THR about his time filming with Nolan. The actor shares some high praise for Nolan, outlining the director’s attention to detail and explaining how the hyper-focused atmosphere on set is unlike anything he’s ever experienced before. Check out Ehrenreich’s full comment below:
« [Oppenheimer] was just terrific. I’ve had a few experiences where I’ve gotten to work for master filmmakers like that, and it was so thrilling just because of the way people feel on set all day long. It’s a different quality. Everyone’s super focused. They’re bringing their A game. They’re honored to be able to be a part of it, and you just feel in the hands of this master. All of my scenes are with Robert Downey Jr., and we developed a really nice friendship.
“Yeah, the level of specificity and detail and control that [Nolan] has on set and his complete dogged commitment to all of that is so inspiring. He is not afraid to demand every piece of it be the way he wants it to be, and that was really great. It’s very pared down. There’s no stand-ins. There’s no fat on the bone. This is the filmmaking experience everybody kind of lives. People don’t have big fancy trailers, and he is controlling every aspect of that set to his liking. And that’s a great, great feeling to be a part of. When you surrender to somebody’s vision and just trust it, it makes such a huge difference.”
How Oppenheimer Is Different From Past Christopher Nolan Movies
Although many mysteries remain about Oppenheimer, the movie is already shaping up to be an interesting departure from Nolan’s past movies. One of the biggest differences, by far, is that Oppenheimer is based on the life of a real person. Instead of crafting his own story around characters like Leonardo DiCaprio’s Cobb in Inception or Matthew McConaughey’s Cooper in Interstellar, Nolan is beholden to accurately portraying the life of a significant, real individual. Even Dunkirk, which is based on very real events during World War II, features fictional soldiers at the center of the story.
Similarly, Oppenheimer is also shaping up to be much lighter on action than previous movies in Nolan’s filmography. Many of the director’s past movies have featured elaborate action set pieces, including all of the movies in his Dark Knight trilogy and Tenet. Even Interstellar, which doesn’t feature all that much actual fighting between characters, has a lot of very intense space-based action. That being said, the first Oppenheimer trailers have already teased that the movie’s depiction of atomic explosions will be thrilling in their own way.
Nolan has worked with a number of incredibly talented actors throughout his career, but the cast for Oppenheimer is arguably the most impressive cast that’s ever been assembled for any movie ever. It’s unclear how the movie will balance all of this immense talent, and it’s very likely that bigger-name actors will get less screen time than some audiences may be expecting. While Oppenheimer will seemingly be quite a departure for Nolan, Ehrenreich’s comment would suggest that the director is still operating at the absolute top of his game.
Source: THR
