- Cillian Murphy told British GQ that the sex scenes in "Oppenheimer" were "vital."
- However, he admits sex scenes aren't fun to film.
"Oppenheimer" star Cillian Murphy is defending director Christopher Nolan's decision to include sex scenes in the biopic on the father of the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer.
On the surface, it seems unnecessary to include sex scenes when highlighting the life and work of the famed physicist who oversaw the creation of one of the deadliest weapons known to man.
But it turns out Oppenheimer was quite the ladies' man in real life, and had several affairs while married to his wife Kitty (Emily Blunt), including one with a Communist named Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh).
"I think they were vital in this," Murphy told British GQ. "I think the relationship that he has with Jean Tatlock is one of the most crucial emotional parts of the film. I think if they're key to the story then they're worthwhile."
"Listen, no one likes doing them, they're the most awkward possible part of our job," Murphy continued. "But sometimes you have to get on with it."
Nolan had a similar response when he spoke to Insider about his choice to include the sex scenes, which mark the first time in his filmography he's filmed sexually graphic material.
"When you look at Oppenheimer's life and you look at his story, that aspect of his life, the aspect of his sexuality, his way with women, the charm that he exuded, it's an essential part of his story," he said. "His very intense relationship with Jean Tatlock, played by Florence Pugh, is one of the most important things in his life. But not least for the fact that Jean Tatlock was very explicitly a Communist and his obsession with her therefore had enormous ramifications for his later life and his ultimate fate."
A decade after Oppenheimer successfully tested the atomic bomb and it was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, essentially ending World War II, his security clearance was revoked.
The revocation came after a 1954 security hearing in which he was accused of having Communist ties.
"It felt very important to understand their relationship and to really see inside it and understand what made it tick without being coy or allusive about it, but to try to be intimate, to try and be in there with him and fully understand the relationship that was so important to him," Nolan said of Oppenheimer's relationship with Tatlock.
Audiences around the globe are reacting differently to the sex and nudity in the movie.
In India, there's been outrage over a scene in which Oppenheimer reads from a copy of the Bhagavad Gita — a holy Hindu text — while having sex with Tatlock. India's Information Commissioner has condemned the scene and called it "a scathing attack on Hinduism."
Some international versions also feature a CGI black slip dress covering Florence Pugh's naked body.
"Oppenheimer" is currently playing in theaters.