Why Christopher Nolan Apologized to Florence Pugh for Her ‘Oppenheimer’ Role

Oppenheimer proved to be one of the biggest cinematic hits in 2023, and Florence Pugh performed phenomenal work in the movie. Pugh played Jean Tatlock, a communist psychiatrist who pursued a sexual relationship with J. Robert Oppenheimer, played by Cillian Murphy. Pugh explained why writer and director Christopher Nolan apologized to her regarding the role.

Christopher Nolan apologized to Florence Pugh for the size of her role in ‘Oppenheimer’

Florence Pugh has become one of the most sought-after actors in recent years. And her fans were delighted to hear about her involvement in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. She played Jean Tatlock, J. Robert Oppenheimer’s, a staunch communist who would rendezvous with Oppenheimer before and after he met the woman who would later become his wife, Kitty. While Pugh played a pivotal role in the film, Nolan apologized to Pugh for how little she appeared in the three-hour film.

“I didn’t really know what was going on or what it was that was being made,” Pugh shared in an interview with MTV UK. “Except I knew that Chris really, really wanted me to know that it wasn’t a very big role and he understands if I don’t want to come near it. And I was like, doesn’t matter. Even if I’m a coffee maker at a café in the back of the room, let’s do it.”

Pugh then noted she met with Nolan in New York while shooting another film, A Good Person. “And I remember he apologized by the size of the role,” she continued. “I was like, ‘Please, don’t apologize.’ And then he said, ‘We’ll send you the script. And honestly, you just read it and you decide if it’s like, I completely understand the sizing thing.’ And I remember even when I got the script, being like, ‘I don’t need to … I know I’m gonna do it.'”

Christopher Nolan felt Oppenheimer and Jean Tatlock’s romance was essential to the story

Christopher Nolan warned Florence Pugh that her role as Jean Tatlock may be small in Oppenheimer. But he still deemed it extremely important.

“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,” Nolan explained to Insider. “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,” he continued.

Nolan also noted that he felt a “creative connection” with Pugh. “I met with her and immediately felt a creative connection,” he added. “I felt this is somebody who could bring Jean Tatlock to life and have the audience understand the significance of this figure in Oppenheimer’s life.”

Cillian Murphy felt excited to work with Pugh, as he was familiar with her past work. And felt his sex scenes with Pugh were filmed perfectly. “Those scenes were written deliberately,” Murphy told The Sydney Morning Herald. “He knew that those scenes would get the movie the rating that it got. And I think when you see it, it’s so f***ing powerful. And they’re not gratuitous. They’re perfect. And Florence is just amazing.”

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