9 More Movie Moments IMPOSSIBLE To Watch The Same Way After This

The great Cillian Murphy gives one of the most impactful and detailed performances of modern times throughout Christopher Nolan's 2023 epic Oppenheimer, starring as the titular theoretical physicist and "father of the atom bomb."  

Though the Oscar-contender shares the screen with a great many world class thespians during the three-hour masterpiece, Murphy's favourite scene of the lot was one that saw him go toe-to-toe with Jason Clarke's Roger Robb during one of the film's security hearing scenes.

That's according to the actor himself, with Murphy also telling the Happy Sad Confused podcast that there was even a moment in that hearing towards the end of the movie where he thought he was going to be legitimately punched out by his scene partner.

Clarke had been given a piece of direction by Nolan before doing a take of the intense scene that sees light burst in and fill the room as Robb fiercely interrogates Oppenheimer. And as the camera slowly moved in on a genuinely frightened Murphy, the actor admitted to thinking his "outrageously aggressive" co-star was going to really batter him whilst they improvised the sequence.

Sure enough, that's the take Nolan went for in the finished feature, too. 

So, the next time you take in Murphy squirming his way through that engrossing hearing, just know that he was genuinely bracing himself for impact in the terrifying moment.