Emily Blunt reveals Cillian Murphy’s diet for Oppenheimer: ‘Could eat only an almond every day’

While actors are committed to the roles they play on screen, some of them go to great lengths and amount of training to perfectly embody the character they are playing. Murphy seems to be no different.

By: Lifestyle Desk

New Delhi | Updated: July 24, 2023 06:16 PM IST

3 min read

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Cillian Murphy in a scene from "Oppenheimer." (Universal Pictures via AP)

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While actors are committed to the roles they play on screen, some of them go to great lengths and amount of training to perfectly embody the character they are playing. Cillian Murphy seems to be no different. The actor plays the titular character in the Christopher Nolan’s biographical drama Oppenheimer which released on July 21 in theatres worldwide. To prepare for his role, he has put a lot of effort–not only in terms of research but physical training as well.

In a recent interview, his co-star Emily Blunt, who plays his wife Kitty, revealed Murphy’s preparation for the role. Blunt told ExtraTV that to transform into J Robert Oppenheimer’s character, Murphy was required to make drastic changes to his diet and physique.

“He had such a monumental undertaking. And he could only eat, like, an almond every day. He was so emaciated,” she said.

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, left, and Emily Blunt as Kitty Oppenheimer in a scene from “Oppenheimer.” (Universal Pictures via AP)

Blunt and Matt Damon, also recently spoke to Entertainment Tonight about their time making the film. They revealed that Murphy skipped most of their cast dinners because of his extremely limited diet for the film.

Damon said, “We invited Cillian to dinner every night and he never went,” and Blunt added that Murphy mostly had “one almond most nights or a little slice of apple.” Adding to this, Damon said, “He was losing so much weight for the part that he just didn’t eat dinner ever.”

Murphy, too, admitted in a conversation with The New York Times earlier this year that he “loves acting with (his) body.”

“I love acting with my body, and Oppenheimer had a very distinct physicality and silhouette, which I wanted to get right. I had to lose quite a bit of weight, and we worked with the costume and tailoring; he was very slim, almost emaciated, and existed on martinis and cigarettes,” he told the outlet.

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However, neither the actor’s actual diet nor the extent of his weight loss for the film has been revealed. But in an interview with The Guardian, Murphy said that he doesn’t “advise” such “unhealthy competition” with oneself. Explaining the filming process, he further noted, “I was running on crazy energy; I went over a threshold to where I was not worrying about food or anything.”

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