Florence Pugh reveals Christopher Nolan apologised for the size of her role in Oppenheimer

Florence Pugh has revealed Christopher Nolan apologised for the size of her role in Oppenheimer.

The director fully expected her to walk away from the role of Jean Tatlock, a Communist Party USA member, and Robert Oppenheimer’s (Cillian Murphy) romantic interest.

However, the Don’t Worry Darling star admitted she wouldn’t have minded playing an extra in the filmmaker’s epic biographical flick about the titular father of the atomic bomb.

Speaking to MTV UK, Florence said: “I didn’t really know what was going on or what it was that was being made.

“Except I knew that Chris really, really wanted me to know that it wasn’t a very big role, and he understands if I don’t want to come near it. And I was like, ‘Doesn’t matter. Even if I’m a coffee maker at a cafe in the back of the room, let’s do it.'”

She added: “I remember he apologised for the size of the role. I was like, ‘Please don’t apologise.

“And then he said, ‘We’ll send you the script, and honestly, you just read it and decide if it’s like… I completely understand the sizing thing.’ And I remember that evening when I got the script being like, ‘I don’t need to… I know I’m going to do it.'”

And while her scenes are brief, they are no less impactful.

Cillian recently heaped praise on Florence for her helping to make their sex scenes “so f***ing powerful”.

The movie features “prolonged full nudity” and sex scenes between J. Robert Oppenheimer – who spearheaded the development of the world’s first atomic bomb – and his lover Jean.

And Cillian, 47, says his 27-year-old castmate managed to make quite a “devastating” impact in the few scenes she’s in.

He told The Sydney Morning Herald: “Those scenes were written deliberately.

“He knew that those scenes would get the movie the rating that it got. And I think when you see it, it’s so f***ing powerful. And they’re not gratuitous. They’re perfect. And Florence is just amazing.”

The Peaky Blinders star went on to hail Florence’s acting as “f***ing phenomenal”.

He added: “I have loved Florence’s work since Lady Macbeth [William Oldroyd’s 2016 period drama about a woman embittered by a loveless marriage] and I think she’s f***ing phenomenal.

“She has this presence as a person and on-screen that is staggering. The impact she has [in Oppenheimer] for the size of the role, it’s quite devastating.”

Director Christopher Nolan says the sex scenes – the first he’s filmed in his career – were vital because of Oppenheimer’s “very intense relationship” with Jean and his “way with women”.

He explained to Insider: “Well, when you look at Oppenheimer’s life and you look at his story, that aspect of his life, the aspect of his sexuality, his way with women, the charm that he exuded, it’s an essential part of his story. His very intense relationship with Jean Tatlock, played by Florence Pugh, is one of the most important things in his life. But not least for the fact that Jean Tatlock was very explicitly a Communist and his obsession with her therefore had enormous ramifications for his later life and his ultimate fate. So it felt very important to understand their relationship and to really see inside it and understand what made it tick without being coy or allusive about it, but to try to be intimate, to try and be in there with him and fully understand the relationship that was so important to him.”