Movies - TV
Robert Pattinson
Is Why Christopher Nolan Made Oppenheimer
By SANDY SCHAEFER
Upon completing production of the sci-fi thriller “Tenet,” star Robert Pattinson gave director Christopher Nolan a series of Robert Oppenheimer’s real-life speeches as a wrap gift.
The actor had recognized the parallels between Nolan’s film and the creation of the atomic bomb, and his gift inspired the director to think about a potential Oppenheimer biopic.
Nolan's quest to better understand Oppenheimer led him to Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin's 2005 biography, “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.”
Using the biography as the basis for his film and building off the speeches Pattinson gave him, Nolan wrote his script in the first person, strictly through Oppenheimer’s eyes.
“I started to get very excited about, [...] telling the actual reality of the story, [...] of what it would have been like to be Oppenheimer in those moments,” said Nolan.