Robert Downey Jr. Claims Working with Cillian Murphy on Oppenheimer Had Him 'Iced Out'
The Iron Man actor had quite an ambiguous impression of Oppenheimer's lead star: sometimes, he was pleasant, and at times, Downey Jr. felt 'iced out' by Murphy.
Oppenheimer is coming right up, and this movie was destined for greatness long before the general audience even learned about its existence. Having Christopher Nolan as the director is already enough to ensure that a project will get the world’s attention, but with Oppenheimer, the entire cast was too good to ignore.
The movie boasts an amazing all-star cast, featuring Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Rami Malek, Florence Pugh, Josh Peck, Casey Affleck, Josh Hartnett, and many other A-list performers. Such a cast is an instant guarantee of the audience’s attention, and Nolan’s directorship only added to that.
Curiously enough, Oppenheimer was the first instance of collaboration for many of these star actors: first and foremost, Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. — the biggest highlights of the movie — have never worked together before. Considering their experience, it was quite interesting to learn what they thought of each other.
While Cillian’s not been asked about the Iron Man actor explicitly so far, Robert Downey Jr. has already shared his opinion about Murphy and his performance. Admittedly, they had a pleasant time with each other off-screen, but whenever it came to filming, Downey Jr. couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable.
"Even just by the time I was on set, seeing how Cillian had embodied this character, to the point where you go like, 'I feel like I'm practically with the guy.' You can't help but feel a little bit iced out by it. <...> Now Cillian is so warm and nice and inviting, but then we'd roll, and I'd feel like he was looking through me like I didn't exist. And I was like, 'That sucks,'" shared the Iron Man actor during an interview with Extra TV.
Overall, apart from the sadness Downey Jr. couldn’t help when Cillian changed for the act, he found nothing but immense praise for Murphy as a person, an actor, and the perfect cast for J. Robert Oppenheimer’s part. It seems like the Iron Man actor was completely blown away by the lead actor’s performance, which is promising.
Source: Extra TV via YouTube