{"id":35289,"date":"2023-07-28T11:51:19","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T09:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1865198"},"modified":"2023-07-28T12:56:32","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T10:56:32","slug":"cillian-murphy-nearly-played-oppenheimer-on-tv-almost-a-decade-ago","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/cillian-murphy-nearly-played-oppenheimer-on-tv-almost-a-decade-ago\/","title":{"rendered":"Cillian Murphy nearly played Oppenheimer on TV almost a decade ago"},"content":{"rendered":"

Murphy is the star of Christopher Nolan’s latest box office hit, but he very well could’ve been in the same role on the small screen. <\/p>

By Morgan Cormack\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 28 July 2023 at 09:51 AM<\/p>

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In the box office blizzard that has seen Barbie<\/a> and Oppenheimer<\/a> continually drum up excitement over the past week, it seems as though there never has been more of a worldwide focus on Oppenheimer\u2019s lead actor, Cillian Murphy<\/a>, than now.<\/p>\n

The leading star of Christopher Nolan\u2019s latest box office hit, which has premiered to critical acclaim, Murphy stars as the titular J Robert Oppenheimer, \u201cfather of the atomic bomb\u201d.<\/p>\n

But it turns out that it may not have been Murphy\u2019s only brush with playing the American scientist, as it turns out that Murphy was also considered to play Oppenheimer in TV series Manhattan.<\/p>\n

\"Benny<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Benny Safdie as Edward Teller and Cillian Murphy as J Robert Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer.<\/span><\/figcaption> Universal Pictures<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Speaking about their time on the series, Lila Byock (The Leftovers), a writer on\u00a0Manhattan and wife of series creator Sam Shaw (Castle Rock), told Vanity Fair<\/a>: \u201cWhen we were casting Oppenheimer, we went through a whole series of different ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shaw said: \u201cWe wanted Oppenheimer to feel both like he possessed a certain undeniable charisma, a presence onstage, but also that he was playing a different instrument. He needed to feel alien, or other, in some ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then revealed: \u201cCillian Murphy was on that list.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt still smarts that we didn\u2019t get to tell the story in its fullness as we had hoped,\u201d Shaw added.<\/p>

The short-lived show premiered on WGN America back in 2014 and was named after The Manhattan Project, which produced the first atomic weapons. The show wasn\u2019t intended to be historically accurate, but focused on fictional character Frank Winter (played by John Benjamin Hickey), a physics professor who led the Manhattan Project.<\/p>\n

Although he wasn\u2019t a main character for the first season, J Robert Oppenheimer appeared in the first instalment and held a meatier role in season 2, although that was to be the last run for the series as a whole. Although Murphy wasn\u2019t part of the series, the Manhattan TV role was played by actor Daniel London.<\/p>\n

Read more:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n