To say that a lot of people saw Oppenheimer this year is an understatement. The Christopher Nolan-directed drama, which focuses on the "father of the atomic bomb," a.k.a. American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, almost made a billion-dollar gross at the box office and was one-half of the behemoth "Barbenheimer" phenomenon that dominated cinemas this past summer. But it wasn't just movie buffs and famous cinephiles like Quentin Tarantino who were flocking to theaters to catch the three-hour biopic. Members of the star-studded Oppenheimer cast were in the audience, too, including Emily Blunt and her husband John Krasinski.
Emily Blunt stars as Kitty Oppenheimer, the wife of the titular scientist and Manhattan Project director, played in the film by Cillian Murphy. The actress recently revealed in a Variety Actors on Actors chat with her Devil Wears Prada co-star Anne Hathaway that she managed to sneak undetected into an IMAX screening just north of New York City to finally see the blockbuster flick for herself. She said:
Because of the strike, we didn’t get to watch the movie with an audience. I realized that Oppenheimer was going to be a very significant moment in cinema history when John [Krasinski, her husband] and I managed to find two seats at an Imax in Nyack, N.Y., in a shopping mall. We snuck in when the lights went dark.
Blunt is referencing, of course, the lengthy SAG-AFTRA strike, which had cut short the promotional tour for Oppenheimer after the film's London premiere in July. Since she wasn't able to watch the film—one of the most acclaimed of the 2023 movie schedule—with an audience, the actress took it upon herself to witness the "very significant moment in cinema history" alongside her famous husband, John Krasinski.
The star said she "got chills" from the audience reaction to Oppenheimer, which saw young moviegoers dressing up as the famous physicist, who was known for his trademark porkpie hat, tailored suits and tapered smoking pipe.
I saw a group of teenage boys coming in dressed as [Cillian Murphy]. In Nyack, N.Y.! I got chills. I called Cillian afterwards and said, ‘You’re not going to believe what I just saw.’
Though Blunt, Murphy and the rest of the Oppenheimer crew are currently in the midst of promotion for the Nolan flick, which is likely to be a heavyweight contender going into awards season -- I mean just look at the Oppenheimer reviews -- the performer revealed she was taking a break from acting this year. The reasoning? To spend more time at home with Krasinski and their two young daughters, 9-year-old Hazel and 7-year-old Violet.
As she discussed during her appearance on the Table for Two with Bruce Bozzi podcast this past July:
This year, I’m not working. … I worked quite a bit last year and my oldest baby is nine, so we’re in the last year of single digits. I just feel [like] there’s cornerstones to their day that are so important when they’re little. And it’s, ‘Will you wake me up? Will you take me to school? Will you pick me up? Will you put me to bed?’ And I just need to be there for all of them for a good stretch. And I just felt that in my bones.
However, it seems like her famous spouse has himself been having a good time during the Oppenheimer promo tour: Krasinski sneakily photobombed his missus as well as her co-stars Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon and Robert Downey Jr. during a group hangout this summer. Gotta love those Oppen-homies!
Overall, it's so sweet to hear Emily Blunt and John Krasinski's story about seeing Oppenheimer. Based on its overwhelming success, they should be proud of the film, and the audience reaction that I'm sure they witnessed when they saw the film in Nyack.
