Cillian Murphy Calls Florence Pugh ‘Oppenheimer’ NSFW Sex Scenes ‘Powerful’: ‘Written Deliberately’

Though Oppenheimer had the internet buzzing before it premiered, those NSFW sex scenes between Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh shifted the conversation. The film’s leading man opened up about the public display of nudity he and Florence filmed, noting that he believed the shots made the movie stronger. 

“Those scenes were written deliberately,” Cillian, 47, told The Sydney Morning Herald shortly before the movie’s Friday, July 21, release. “[Director Christopher Nolan] knew that those scenes would get the movie the rating that it got. And I think when you see it, it’s so f—king powerful. And they’re not gratuitous. They’re perfect. And Florence is just amazing.” 

There are three major nude scenes between Cillian and Florence, 27, that has had moviegoers spiraling. The first is when their characters, Robert Oppenheimer and Jean Tatlock, start a relationship and have sex. Florence was filmed completely shirtless multiple times. The second scene is when the characters are sitting in chairs opposite from each other, with both actors sitting down naked. In the third nude moment, Emily Blunt’s character, Robert’s wife, Kitty Oppenheimer, envisions her husband’s affair with Jean while sitting in an interrogation room. Kitty sees Jean grinding on her husband’s lap while Jean stares directly at her, taunting Kitty. 

This wasn’t Florence’s first time filming a sex scene. Nearly one year prior, her and Olivia Wilde’s drama-thriller, Don’t Worry Darling, premiered in September 2022. Since the film’s trailers revealed a few raunchy scenes between Florence and Harry Styles, Florence addressed the topic in an interview one month before the movie reached theaters. 

“When it’s reduced to your sex scenes, or to watch the most famous man in the world go down on someone, it’s not why we do it,” Florence explained. “It’s not why I’m in this industry. Obviously, the nature of hiring the most famous pop star in the world, you’re going to have conversations like that. That’s just not what I’m going to be discussing because [this movie is] bigger and better than that. And the people who made it are bigger and better than that.”

Oppenheimer premiered on the same day as the film’s competitor Barbie, both of which spurred the “Barbenheimer” movie movement that encouraged fans to see both films over the weekend of Friday, July 21, through Sunday, July 23. The cast of Oppenheimer also made headlines two weeks earlier when each actor walked off the red carpet at the U.K. premiere of their production on July 14 in honor of the SAG-AFTRA strike commencing two months after the WGA strike began.

While speaking on stage at the premiere, Christopher, 52, pointed out the actors’ walkout in a speech, according to a video shared via Twitter. 

“I have to acknowledge the work by our incredible cast, led by Cillian Murphy,” the filmmaker began. “You’ve seen them here earlier on the red carpet. Unfortunately, they’re off to write their picket signs for the imminent strike by SAG, joining my guild, one of my guilds, the Writer’s Guild [of America] in the struggle for fair wages, for working members of their union. And we support them.” 

Hours prior to their show of solidarity with the unions, Florence and Emily had a funny fashion snafu on the red carpet, where Emily’s sparkling orange blazer popped open and revealed her black lace bra. Florence, of course, helped her costar cover it and button it back up while the two actresses shared a laugh about the memorable moment.