Summary
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Oppenheimer.
Oppenheimer star Robert Downey Jr. explains what he thinks writer and director Christopher Nolan’s hidden motives might have been for his casting in the film. Based on the book American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, Oppenheimer stars Cillian Murphy as the titular American theoretical physicist and “father of the atomic bomb”. Downey also plays a significant role in the film as Lewis Strauss, a politician and former Chair of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC).
In a recent video for Vanity Fair, Downey explains that he thinks Nolan may have had an additional motive when he cast him as Strauss in Oppenheimer. Check out the video below (the relevant section begins at 20:28):
In the video, Downey explains that his role as Strauss not only allowed him to play a type of role that he’s never played before, but the part allowed him to look at his own life and career from a new perspective, which may have been part of why Nolan decided to cast him. You can read Downey’s full comment below:
“There’s something about Strauss that I find he’s very conservative and very devoted and very much lived a life of service…And with all these forces that were at play during the Cold War, it was great for me to have held this position of kind of a righteous indignation with what all these liberal geniuses were up to. In a way, I felt like I got to be a critic of what might be a perception of myself or others throughout the entirety of my career.
“And so I got to do that counterpoint. It was almost like I was in a debate with the aspects of myself that I have glorified. And I was able to look at each one of them and say, ‘That’s not entirely right and maybe you don’t deserve that.’ And it’s been a great dialogue.
“I have a feeling that part of the reason Nolan wanted me to do this was to give me that kind of 180 perspective. But I also, at the end of the day, I truly believe that Lewis Strauss did everything he did for reasons that he thought were correct. And I don’t mean that like a superhero bad guy, I mean that legitimately as a human being. So I find it really kind of fascinating that I’m still a little bit up in the air about who was on the right side of history.”
Robert Downey Jr. Is Oppenheimer’s Secret Weapon
In addition to the impressive practical filmmaking on display, Oppenheimer is a film very much built on performances. Murphy, obviously, takes center stage for much of the film, powerfully giving life to the conflicted and nuanced scientist at the heart of the film, with Florence Pugh’s Jean Tatlock, Emily Blunt’s Kitty Oppenheimer, and Matt Damon’s General Leslie Groves also playing crucial roles in shaping his story.
Much of Oppenheimer’s story also hinges, however, on Downey’s performance as Strauss. Strauss is the antagonist of the film, in many ways, attempting to derail Oppenheimer’s life by stripping him of his AEC security clearance. In addition to the personal vendetta that Strauss seemingly has against Murphy’s character, the politician also helps to flesh out the film’s key themes regarding how the creation of atomic weapons changed the world.
After creating the atomic bomb, Oppenheimer, who feared the potential destruction that would come from an arms race with the Soviet Union, was opposed to the creation of thermonuclear bombs. Strauss, on the other hand, following the Soviets’ successful atomic bomb test in 1949, believed that creation of these weapons was crucial to American national security. This disagreement would eventually lead to Strauss putting Oppenheimer on trial for his alleged communist ties.
Source: Vanity Fair/ YouTube
