Florence Pugh Talks About Her ‘Oppenheimer’ Role: Apology, Commitment, and Controversy

Florence Pugh’s standout performance as Communist leader Jean Tatlock in Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” is earning praise. In an MTV UK interview, Florence shared that Christopher had apologized for the size of her role when offering it to her. She mentioned, “Even if I’m a coffee maker at a cafe in the back of the room, let’s do it.” Despite the small role, she eagerly accepted.

She recalled, “I remember he apologized for the size of the role. I was like, ‘Please don’t apologize.’ 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.'”

Her character Jean Tatlock is a significant part of the story, portraying the love interest of nuclear physicist J Robert Oppenheimer, played by Cillian Murphy. Emily Blunt portrays Oppenheimer’s wife in the movie.

A particular scene involving Jean and Oppenheimer, which references a verse from the Hindu holy book Bhagavad Gita, sparked controversy on the Indian internet. Additionally, Florence’s role drew attention when CGI was used to add a black dress to her during the scene for approval by the Central Board of Film Certification. The CBFC faced criticism from Information & Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur for the Bhagavad Gita reference.

“Oppenheimer,” featuring Robert Downey Jr, Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, and others, has achieved over ?150 crore at the Indian box office and stands as the fourth highest grossing film globally.