‘Absolutely beautiful text’: Cillian Murphy read Bhagavad Gita to prepare for Oppenheimer role

Actor Cillian Murphy, who is playing the titular role in the upcoming film ‘Oppenheimer’, revealed that he had studied the Bhagavad Gita while preparing for his role in the film.

In the highly-anticipated Christopher Nolan-directed ‘Oppenheimer’, Murphy plays the role of American nuclear physicist J Robert Oppenheimer, who is widely credited as the father of the atomic bomb.

After the successful testing of the first atomic bomb in 1945, the Director of the Manhattan Project was reported to have said “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds”. This often-repeated quote was a direct borrowing from the Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita, which Oppenheimer was well-versed in. In addition, he had also learned Sanskrit at Berkley.

‘Read Bhagavad Gita in preparation for Oppenheimer’: Cillian Murphy

In a conversation with film critic Sucharita Tyagi, Murphy revealed that he had read the scripture to understand the mindset of Robert Oppenheimer.

“I did read the Bhagavad Gita in preparation, and I thought it was an absolutely beautiful text, very inspiring. I think it was a consolation to him [Oppenheimer], he kind of needed it and it provided him a lot of consolation, all his life,” Murphy said in the interview.

When Tyagi asked Murphy about his takeaways from the Gita, the Irish star jokingly said, “Well don’t grill me on it!”.

“I just found it very beautiful,” he added.

Oppenheimer is set for a worldwide theatrical release on July 21 and will star Murphy, Robert Downey Jr, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, and others.