Cillian Murphy talks filming 'powerful' sex scenes with Florence Pugh for Oppenheimer

Christopher Nolan movies are not known for their explicit sex scenes, but Oppenheimer will be different, as it reportedly includes some with Cillian Murphy and co-star Florence Pugh.

The movie is based on the book 'American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer' which was co-written by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherman. It tells the story of the birth of the atomic bomb via the Manhattan Project.

What are the top 10 most popular shows on Amazon Prime right now?

Tuesday 10 February 2026, 14:38

What are the top 10 most popular shows on Netflix right now?

Monday 9 February 2026, 15:27

Murphy plays Oppenheimer and Pugh plays his mistress Jean Tatlock, who is a communist. The Irishman has lavished praise on his co-star, while insisting the sex scenes between the pair are not gratuitous.

READ MORE: Oppenheimer initial reviews

“Those scenes were written deliberately," Murphy told the Sydney 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.

“I have loved Florence’s work since Lady Macbeth and I think she’s f***ing phenomenal. She has this presence as a person and on-screen that is staggering. The impact she has for the size of the role, it’s quite devastating.”

Oppenheimer will receive a worldwide release on 23 July 2023.

Oppenheimer is a stunning achievement

Kai Bird, the author of the aforementioned novel, gave Oppenheimer a glowing review after seeing an early screening.

“I am, at the moment, stunned and emotionally recovering from having seen it,” said in a conversation with David Nirenberg at Leon Levy Center for Biography in New York.

“I think it is going to be a stunning artistic achievement, and I have hopes it will actually stimulate a national, even global conversation about the issues that Oppenheimer was desperate to speak out about — about how to live in the atomic age, how to live with the bomb and about McCarthyism — what it means to be a patriot, and what is the role for a scientist in a society drenched with technology and science, to speak out about public issues.”