Cillian Murphy says he read the Bhagavad Gita to prepare for Oppenheimer: ‘Absolutely beautiful text’

Cillian Murphy opened up about his process to play the titular theoretical physicist J Robert Oppenheimer, regarded as one of the fathers of the atom bomb, in director Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer.

Actor Cillian Murphy will be next seen in Oppenheimer. (Photo: Oppenheimer/Instagram)

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Actor Cillian Murphy said that he read the Bhagavad Gita as a part of his preparation for filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. The actor opened up about his process to play the titular theoretical physicist J Robert Oppenheimer, regarded as one of the fathers of the atom bomb.

Oppenheimer famously said that he thought of a quote from the Gita in the immediate aftermath of successfully testing the world’s first atomic bomb in 1945. When the test concluded successfully, Oppenheimer, who was also a student of Sanskrit, thought, “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”

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In an interview with Sucharita Tyagi, Cillian Murphy was asked about Oppenheimer being influenced by sacred text, to which the actor said even he was inspired by it. “I did read the Bhagavad Gita in preparation, and I thought it was an absolutely beautiful text, very inspiring. I think it was a consolation to him, he kind of needed it and it provided him a lot of consolation, all his life.” When asked his learnings from Bhagavad Gita, Cillian joked, “Well don’t grill me on it!” The actor then added, “I just found it very beautiful.”

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The historical drama, also starring Robert Downey Jr, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon and Florence Pugh, is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and the late Martin J Sherwin.

Oppenheimer is set to release on July 21, when it will have a box office face-off with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. The film recently had its premiere in Paris, where it opened to glowing reviews, with many calling it one of Nolan’s best works yet.

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