Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy reveals that he read the Bhagavad Gita before shooting the film

Christopher Nolan's biographical thriller, Oppenheimer, will be released in theaters on July 21, 2023. Cillian Murphy, who stars as the titular character in this highly anticipated film, revealed in a recent interview that he read the Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita to prepare himself for the film.

Robert Oppenheimer was one of the lead scientists in the Manhattan Project and played a central role in the creation of the first atomic bomb. He was fascinated by Hindu philosophy and even quoted a line from the Bhagavad Gita in the aftermath of the first successful nuclear weapons test on July 16, 1945.

---

Cillian Murphy revealed that he read the Bhagavad Gita to get into the right headspace for Oppenheimer

Cillian Murphy as seen in the film (Image via Universal Pictures)

Cillian Murphy is famous for portraying Thomas Shelby in the British television series Peaky Blinders. He is a major staple in Christopher Nolan's films and has worked with the director on blockbuster projects such as Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, and Dunkirk.

Despite being a side character in these films, Murphy has impressed the audience with his acting prowess and has left an indelible mark on the films he's in. Murphy is partnering up with Nolan for the sixth time on the biographical film Oppenheimer and will play the role of the titular scientist in the film.

Poster for the upcoming film (Image via Universal Pictures)

In a recent interview, Murphy revealed that to get into the right headspace for the upcoming film, he read the Hindu scripture, Bhagavad Gita.

"I did read the Bhagavad Gita in preparation for the film. I thought it was an absolutely beautiful text. Very inspiring. It was a consolation to him. He kind of needed it. It provided a lot of consolation to him all his life," he said.

Here, Murphy is referring to theoretical physicist Robert Oppenheimer, the real-life scientist and titular character in Nolan's new biographical thriller. Known as "father of the atomic bomb," the scientist was the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory during World War 2 and played a key role in the success of the Manhattan Project.

A still from the upcoming film (Image via Universal Pictures)

He witnessed the detonation of the first atomic bomb in the Trinity Nuclear Test on July 16, 1945. Following this, he quoted a line from the Bhagavad Gita, which was said to Arjuna by Lord Krishna:

"Now I have become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

Oppenheimer was enamored with Hindu philosophy and even studied Sanskrit under Arthur W. Ryder at Berkley to better understand it. He read the Bhagavad Gita in original Sanskrit and stated it to be one of the books that shaped the philosophy of his life.

He even stated that the holy book provided him much-needed consolation throughout his life and helped him deal with the fact that he'd given the weapon of mass destruction to man, and now it was too late to stop it. Thus, to understand the man better and step into his shoes, Cillian Murphy read the Bhagavad Gita as well.