Summary

• The cast of Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer is epic, featuring familiar actors like Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, and Florence Pugh.
• Cillian Murphy takes on the lead role as J. Robert Oppenheimer, historically known as the "Father of the Atomic Bomb".
• The cast also includes Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, and other talented actors who bring their own unique qualities to the film, creating a star-studded lineup for this historic thriller.

Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer cast is just as epic in scale as the movie's premise. Oppenheimer is Nolan’s first biopic and focuses on the man central to the creation of the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer. Nolan’s Oppenheimer takes place in the 1930s and 1940s and charts Oppenheimer’s role in the infamous Manhattan Project. The Oppenheimer cast brings the titular scientific figure and plenty of others to life in a Best Picture-winning movie that's everything from a historical thriller to a horror-themed biopic.

Many familiar actors from Christopher Nolan’s past movie projects are included in the cast of Oppenheimer. Cillian Murphy, who also stars in Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, and Dunkirk, takes on the lead role, stepping into Oppenheimer’s shoes at the height of the Manhattan Project. Other than Nolan's regular collaborators, plenty of talented actors worked with the filmmaker for the first time. Between Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, and Florence Pugh, the list of award winners in the Oppenheimer cast is as big as the tale they brought to the screen.

Cillian Murphy As J. Robert Oppenheimer

The Father Of The Atomic Bomb

Actor: Cillian Murphy is a veteran of Nolan’s films, so his inclusion in this cast should be no surprise. The actor has worked with Nolan on Inception, Dunkirk, and appeared as The Scarecrow in all three of Nolan's The Dark Knight movies. This is the first time that Murphy plays the lead in one of Christopher Nolan’s films, but he's played the starring role in plenty of movies, from 28 Days Later to Sunshine. He also earned plenty of acclaim for his role as Tommy Shelby on the British crime series Peaky Blinders.

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Character: Murphy steps into the titular role of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a role which earned him an Oscar. Oppenheimer is a brilliant scientist who is brought on to head the American military operation of building the atomic bomb. The movie jumps back and forth in time, showing Oppenheimer developing the bomb with his team as well as the aftermath of it being successful, which led to his lifelong guilt.

Emily Bunt As Katherine ‘Kitty’ Oppenheimer

J. Robert Oppenheimer's Wife

Actor: Emily Blunt is an Oscar-nominated actor who first caught audiences' attention with her scene-stealing ing role opposite Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada. She went on to prove herself an action star in movies like The Edge of Tomorrow, Looper, Sicario, and The Quiet Place. Blunt most recently starred alongside Ryan Gosling in the action comedy The Fall Guy and will appear opposite Dwayne Johnson in The Smashing Machine.

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Character: Kitty is Robert Oppenheimer's wife, who struggles to cope with his anxiety about work and his affair with Jean Tatlock. She still stays by Oppenheimer's side no matter what and stands up to government officials when he can't. In many ways, she is willing to fight back and be less courteous than her husband in the wake of being questioned about their past and betrayed by their so-called friends.

Matt Damon As Leslie Groves

The Director Of The Manhattan Project

Actor: Matt Damon became a household name for starring in Good Will Hunting, a movie he wrote with his friend Ben Affleck, earning them an Oscar for the script. Damon then cemented himself as a Hollywood leading man with movies like Saving Private Ryan, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Rounders. Damon became an action star playing Jason Bourne in the Bourne franchise. He has also starred in The Martian, The Departed, True Grit, and the Ocean's movies.

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Character: Damon plays Army Corps of Engineers overseer Groves, who is responsible for the construction of the Pentagon and is appointed to direct the Manhattan Project in September 1942. He represents the military side of the project which sometimes butts heads with the scientific side. While he and Oppenheimer do not always see eye-to-eye, they form a bond and Groves is the closest thing to an ally that Oppenheimer has outside his fellow physicists.

Robert Downey Jr. As Lewis Strauss

A Member Of The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)

Actor: Robert Downey Jr. began his Hollywood career in the 1980s with movies like Less Than Zero before scoring his first Oscar nomination for Chaplin. Downey staged one of the most impressive Hollywood comebacks of all time with parts in Zodiac and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang eventually leading to his iconic role in the MCU as Tony Stark aka Iron Man. After leading the MCU for more than a decade and appearing in the likes of Sherlock Holmes and Tropic Thunder, Downey has found fascinating new projects such as the limited series The Sympathizer.

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Character: Downey Jr. won his first Oscar for playing Lewis Strauss in the Oppenheimer cast. Strauss, a naval officer who served two on the United States Atomic Energy Commission, locked horns with Oppenheimer following the Manhattan Project, and he tried to ruin the physicist's life with accusations of Communist involvement. However, the attempt eventually backfired when Strauss became the first person appointed to a cabinet position by the President of the United States not to get confirmed by Congress.

Florence Pugh As Jean Tatlock

Oppenheimer's Mistress & A Communist Party Member

Actor: Florence Pugh has emerged in the past decade as one of the most exciting young actors in Hollywood now. She rose to fame with her Oscar-nominated role in Little Women as well as her performances in Midsommar and Don't Worry Darling. Pugh has also ed the MCU, debuting as Yelena Belova in Black Widow and she will reprise the role in the Thunderbolts. Pugh also recently appeared in the cast of Dune: Part Two and will star opposite Andrew Garfield in the romance movie We Live in Time.

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Character: Florence Pugh plays Jean Tatlock, a member of the United States Communist Party, and a psychiatrist, who has a romantic relationship with J. Robert Oppenheimer. Her suicide had a huge impact on Oppenheimer and only added to his increasing anxiety and stress. Oppenheimer's depiction of Jean's death also raises the disturbing question of whether it was actually a suicide.

David Krumholtz As Isidor Isaac Rabi

A Nobel Prize-Winning Physicist

Actor: David Krumholtz is an actor who is likely best known for his role as the sarcastic head elf Bernard in the Disney movie The Santa Clause and its sequels. However, he also has had an extensive and varied career in comedic and dramatic roles going back to his early performances in the likes of The Addams Family Values. He starred in the crime procedural Numb3rs for six seasons and has appeared in movies like 10 Things I Hate About You, Ray, Serenity, and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.

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Character: David Krumholtz's Oppenheimer character is Isidor Isaa Rabi. Rabi is another physicist whom Oppenheimer meets as a student, and he's the closest thing Oppenheimer has to a best friend. The physicist is the most likable character in Oppenheimer, as he refuses to The Manhattan Project because of his anti-war beliefs until he's convinced by Oppenheimer, and he stands by his friend to the very end.

Benny Safdie As Edward Teller

A Hungarian Theoretical Physicist

Actor: Benny Safdie is best known as part of the directing duo with his brother, Josh Safdie, who directed the crime thrillers Good Time and Uncut Gems. Safdie also had a role in Good Time opposite Robert Pattinson and has been focusing on his acting work in recent years. He appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza and the acclaimed coming-of-age story Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. He has also appeared on television in the Star Wars miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi and opposite Emma Stone and Nathan Fielderin The Curse.

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Character: Benny Safdie s the Oppenheimer cast as Edward Teller. Teller is one of the theoretical physicists to work with Robert Oppenheimer on the Manhattan Project. During the scientists' meetings, Teller has the idea to create the bomb using hydrogen, which doesn't sit well with Oppenheimer and leads to a falling out between the two physicists. Ultimately, Teller is one of the former friends who testifies against Oppenheimer during the security hearing.

Josh Hartnett As Ernest Lawrence

A Nobel-Winning Nuclear Physicist

Actor: Following teen horror roles in Halloween H20 and The Faculty, Josh Hartnett emerged as one of the hottest young actors in Hollywood during the early 2000s. He became a star in war movies like Pearl Harbor and Black Hawk Down before stepping into other popular roles in movies like The Black Dahlia, Lucky Number Slevin, Sin City, and 30 Days of Night. Hartnett saw someone of the comeback in his career recently, leading to his starring role in M. Night Shyamalan's Trap.

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Character: Josh Hartnett plays Ernest Lawrence in the Oppenheimer cast. Lawrence is an American nuclear physicist and professor who gives lectures with Oppenheimer. Lawrence is the scientist who essentially recruits Oppenheimer, bringing him on board with the US government to work on the Manhattan Project. He is also the one who begins warning Oppenheimer about how his political behavior could have big consequences.

Matthew Modine As Vannevar Bush

Head Of The Office Of Scientific Research And Development

Actor: Matthew Modine rose to fame with his starring role as U.S. Marine Private/Sergeant J.T. "Joker" Davis in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket. He starred in movies such as Married to the Mob, Cutthroat Island, and Sicario: Day of the Soldado. He has also worked with Nolan before on The Dark Knight Rises, in which he played GD Deputy Commissioner Peter Foley. Modine is likely best known these days for his role as Dr. Brenner in Stranger Things.

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Character: Matthew Modine's Oppenheimer character is Vannevar Bush. Bush is the electrical engineer and inventor who works closely with Oppenheimer and, like Oppenheimer, is conflicted about working on the atomic bomb, though he is shown celebrating with the other scientists following the successful Trinity test. Bush went on to publically attack the decision to strip Oppenheimer of his security clearance.

Dylan Arnold As Frank Oppenheimer

Robert's Younger Brother And A Particle Physicist

Actor: Dylan Arnold is still in the very early stages of his career, but he still has an impressive resume. He's already established a reputation as a go-to horror actor, having had roles in The Purge series, 2018's Halloween reboot, and the Into the Dark anthology series. Most notably, Arnold has previously had roles in Halloween Kills as well as the hit Netflix show You. He will next be seen opposite Natalie Portman in the miniseries Lady in the Lake.

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Character: Dylan Arnold s the Oppenheimer cast as Frank Oppenheimer. Frank is Robert Oppenheimer’s younger brother, who is a professor of physics at the University of Colorado. Frank eventually s his brother at Los Alamos to work on the bomb after Robert insisted on his involvement. However, it comes with much reluctance from the government as they are weary of Frank's communist connections.