Oppenheimer Star Florence Pugh Reveals Why Christopher Nolan Apologized to Her About Role

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer features one of the most star-studded casts of the year, so much so that even roles with relatively minimal screen time were performed by highly sought-after performers, including Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock. In fact, Pugh revealed that Nolan felt the need to apologize over offering up the role to Pugh, given how small it was in comparison to other parts, but the actor admitted that she was so interested in working with the filmmaker that she would have taken a glorified cameo. Even with minimal screen time, Pugh, as well as the rest of the cast, have all been earning praise for their work in the film.

“I didn’t really know what was going on or what it was that was being made,” Pugh revealed to MTV UK about her first talks with Nolan. “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 café in the back of the room, let’s do it.’”

Pugh noted that she met the director while she was filming A Good Person for Zach Braff.

“I remember he apologized by the size of the role. I was like, ‘Please don’t apologize,’” she confessed. “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.’”

Even if her role as Tatlock didn’t earn as much screen time as her costars, it was a pivotal role in the narrative and in the real life of J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Oppenheimer and Tatlock had a years-long romantic relationship, which even continued to a degree after Oppenheimer married his wife Kitty. Tatlock was found dead in what authorities determined to be a suicide, which understandably took an emotional toll on Oppenheimer, with some theories even suggesting that the suicide was staged and Tatlock’s death was the result of her being too close to Oppenheimer and potentially having access to national secrets.

Oppenheimer is currently in theaters.

What did you think of Pugh’s performance in the film? Let us know in the comments!