Cillian Murphy says ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Peaky Blinders’ have put him off smoking
Cillian Murphy has said that huffing fake cigarettes and pipes on set for Oppenheimer and Peaky Blinders has put him off smoking – as well as accepting future roles that require it.
The actor, who plays chain-smoking scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film Oppenheimer, and heavy smoker gang leader Tommy Shelby in the BBC series Peaky Blinders, has spoken about his dislike of it in a new interview.
Prop cigarettes and pipes do not contain tobacco nor nicotine but they do still emit harmful emit carcinogens and toxins [via Franciscan Health].
Murphy told The Guardian that cigarettes and pipes were what killed his character Oppenheimer. “Cigarettes and pipes. [Oppenheimer] would alternate between the two. That’s what [killed] him in the end,” Murphy said.
“I’ve smoked so many fake cigarettes for Peaky and this,” he continued. “My next character won’t be a smoker. They can’t be good for you.”
On top of smoking hundreds of fake cigarettes over the years for his roles, Murphy also said that he didn’t enjoy losing weight to play the skinny Oppenheimer.
“You become competitive with yourself a little bit which is not healthy,” he said. “I don’t advise it.”
Oppenheimer, nicknamed the “father of the atomic bomb”, was a theoretical physicist who became known for his contribution to the Manhattan Project. The research and development project took place in the US during World War Two and led to the creation of the first atomic bombs, and the only ones used to this day in conflict.
Those bombs were later used to destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan – killed hundreds of thousands of people and destroying countless lives afterwards – although it’s believed to have expedited the end of the war.
Murphy is joined in Oppenheimer by Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek and Kenneth Branagh. The movie is released on July 21.
Elsewhere in the interview Murphy discussed the film’s sex scenes, revealing that the film features “prolonged full nudity” from the main cast.
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Charlotte Krol
NME
