Cillian Murphy only ate ‘an almond a DAY’ to transform into J. Robert Oppenheimer who lived on ‘cigarettes and martinis’ – claims co-star Emily Blunt

Cillian Murphy did everything he could to turn into the father of the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer.

In an interview with Additional, his on-screen wife, Emily Blunt, 40, said: ‘He had such a monumental business. And he could only eat one almond a day. He was so emaciated.’

And Murphy, 47, almost admitted Blunt was right.

“I like acting with my body, and Oppenheimer had a very distinct physicality and silhouette, which I wanted to get right,” the Peaky Blinders actor shared. The New York Times in May.

“I had to lose quite a bit of weight, and we worked with the costume and sizing; he was very slim, almost emaciated, lived on martinis and cigarettes.’

On-screen husband and wife: In an interview with Extra, his on-screen wife, Emily Blunt, 40, said, “He had such a monumental business. And he could only eat one almond a day. He was so emaciated’ (pictured together July 2023)

The man himself: Cillian said, “I had to lose quite a bit of weight, and we worked with the costume and sizing; he was very slim, almost emaciated, lived on martinis and cigarettes’ (physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer is pictured)

But Murphy doesn’t want the headlines to be about the diet he followed for the role.

“I don’t want it to be, ‘Cillian lost X weight for the role,'” he admitted The protector earlier this month.

And he made it clear that his extreme diet was not safe and should not be tried by other people.

“You get a little competitive with yourself, which is not healthy,” he said, adding, “I don’t recommend it.”

The Inception actor also explained that he didn’t want to reveal what food he cut out to play the trailblazing scientist or how much weight he lost.

And the lightning-fast movie pace helped Murphy reach his goal weight.

“It’s like being on this goddamn train that’s just bombing. It’s bang, bang, bang, bang. You sleep for a few hours, get up, bang again,” he told The Guardian.

“I was running on frenzied energy; I crossed a threshold where I didn’t have to worry about food or anything. I was so in it, a state of hyper…something,” he explained.

“But it was good because the character was like that. He never ate.”

Oppenheimer, which hits the studios July 21, also stars Matt Damon, 52, Florence Pugh, 27, Robert Downey, Jr., 58, and Rami Malek, 42.

Scientist: The star generated Oscar buzz for his role

Great Lengths: “I had to lose quite a bit of weight, and we worked with the costume and tailoring; he was very slim, almost emaciated, lived on martinis and cigarettes’

The outlet asked Murphy if he’s happy with his performance in Oppenheimer.

“I am, yes,” he said. “I don’t like looking at myself – it’s like ‘Oh, f***ing hell’ – but it’s an extraordinary piece of work.”

‘Very provocative and powerful. It sometimes feels like a biopic, sometimes like a thriller, sometimes like a horror,” he said.

“It’s going to knock people out,” he adds. ‘What [Nolan] does with film, it f***su a bit.’