While the cast of Oppenheimer are close friends, it looks like things went down during the making of the movie, as revealed by star Emily Blunt.
The Oscar-nominated actress, 40, told The Sun in a new interview that she and co-star Cillian Murphy, 47, really leaned into their characters for the movie, which is touted as a favorite for the top Best Picture Oscar.
During a tense interaction, Emily's Kitty is meant to slap Cillian's Oppenheimer, and the English actress was egged on by both her scene partner and director Christopher Nolan to slap him multiple times.
"Sorry about your cheekbone Cillian," she apologetically said. "Poor Cillian. Chris went, 'Hit him'. And I was like, 'I don't know'. And Cillian was like, 'Do it, do it'. Chris was like, 'He'll be fine . . . do it'. I slapped him then I grabbed him, by the neck really, by the collar."
The atmosphere of the scene itself made the moment all the more grave, and Emily noticed that her slapping had begun to show on his cheek. "I just saw over the course of, like, ten takes that very famous cheekbone became even more prominent — and it's not even in the movie."
Despite that particular scene not making the final cut of the movie, it proved to be pivotal regardless, and created a tense moment on set due to its gravity.
© Getty ImagesExplaining that they were fighting a battle with light as well, Emily added: "I was aware on the day that we didn't have long, just slightly aware of it, of the tension building on set.
"And it's such a challenging scene for Cillian because he has to be sort of gibbering incoherently. So you stagger through it in rehearsals and you know it's going to start ratcheting up the more you do it."
However, there were even more instances of pain for the Peaky Blinders star, which Emily mentioned she was apologetic for, although joked before her next anecdote: "He's going to kill me for telling this story."
© Getty ImagesAt the start of shooting for the blockbuster film in New Mexico, Emily, concerned about her co-star's sleeping patterns due to the nature of his performance, bought him a "fantastic" pillow.
MORE: Cillian Murphy looks unrecognizable after dramatic weight loss: 'I don't advise it'
"I was very concerned about Cillian's sleep when we started shooting because I felt he had a monumental undertaking with this role," she explained. "I thought, like, that's a good start-of-shoot gift."
© UniversalHowever, the gift ended up becoming a little too good as she continued: "He told me he woke up in the middle of the night and he was so thrilled to fluff himself back to sleep on the pillow, that he sort of threw his head down back on to it and smashed his head open on the bedside table.
MORE: Cillian Murphy's lookalike son Aran, 16, joins famous dad for ultra rare public appearance
"He was luxuriating in it so much he smashed his head open," she added, explaining that the accident even required medical attention on set. "So he came to set and they had to glue his head shut, all because of the pillow."
© Getty ImagesThe Devil Wears Prada star, however, gushed about her partnership with the Irish star and celebrated the fact that they're both up for Oscars for their performances, Cillian in the Best Actor category and Emily as Best Supporting Actress.
Get the lowdown on the biggest, hottest celebrity news, features, and profiles coming out of the U.S. Sign up to our HELLO! Hollywood newsletter and get them delivered straight to your inbox.
