Cillian Murphy explains important reason Christopher Nolan issues cast with red scripts
Christopher Nolan is behind some of the biggest and best films in modern cinema, with his blockbusters raking in more than $6 billion across the globe.
And there's one vital - and rather unique - way he keeps his hugely anticipated projects under wraps, as revealed by one of his favourite and trusted actors, Cillian Murphy.
We've pretty much all seen a movie made by the British-American filmmaker, whether that's The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, or Tenet.
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And if it's none one of them, you're among the minority if you've never laid eyes on his latest flick, Oppenheimer.
The epic biopic stars Murphy as American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who is tasked with leading The Manhattan Project from 1942 to 1946, the Allied forces' successful attempt to be the first to make an atomic bomb before Nazi Germany.
The movie documents the work that lead up to the successful explosion, dubbed the Trinity test, in 1945, and the controversial political aftermath.
The success of Oppenheimer has seen Murphy's career catapulted in to the stratosphere, despite having incredible roles prior to the film including Peaky Blinders and Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy.
It's seen him win big at the Baftas and the Golden Globes. Now, the Oscars awaits with the film up for 13 awards including best director for Nolan, best supporting actor for Robert Downey Jr and a nomination for Murphy as best actor.
But as with every film, the project started years ago with the most basic of items - a hand-delivered script.
In a recent interview with US programme 60 Minutes, Murphy sat down with legendary presenter Scott Pelley.
Murphy told the presenter about the first time he laid eyes on the script given to him by Nolan in Dublin.
The script was hand-delivered to Murphy, with Nolan flying from the United States to Ireland to personally hand it over in Nolan's Dublin hotel room.
Another move Nolan takes with his scripts is to 'always print it on red paper', Murphy explained, with the words printed in black ink.
There's a very simple reason he does this - in the hope of preventing photocopying.
Interstellar actress Jessica Chastain has previously also spoken out about Nolan's unique scripts after starring in the 2014 epic.
Murphy was a little more tongue-in-cheek when it came to the red and black script, saying: "I guess it's to prevent photocopying but I don't know who photocopies in 2024... he's always had a tradition of this."
But the Irishman does explain that his name appears on every page of his personal script, so if it got leaked, Nolan would know who the culprit was.
The video with 60 Minutes also shows a heartwarming note on the front of Murphy's script, left by Nolan, that reads: "Dearest Cillian. Finally, a chance to see you lead... Love, Chris."
Topics: Cillian Murphy, Christopher Nolan, TV and Film, Oppenheimer, US News, UK News
Tom Earnshaw