Christopher Nolan is opening up about the moment that the cast had to walk out of the London premiere of Oppenheimer last week.
During an interview on Today, the 52-year-old director addressed the moment, as Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon and Florence Pugh stepped away from the film’s screening as the SAG-AFTRA strike started.
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“It was a bittersweet moment,” he stated. “We were all there. We were very fortunate. We had the opportunity to somewhat celebrate the film. And the actors were all there to support but then when the time came had to [put] down tools and go off in support of all of their fellow actors and then support the writers, as well.”
Christopher also noted that the strike is an “important moment in the industry.”
“The business models have been rewritten by the companies we work for, and it’s time to rewrite the deals. Hopefully, with everybody unified, that can happen quickly as possible.”
Emily actually addressed the strike at the premiere, too.
“I hope everyone makes a fair deal, and we are here to celebrate this movie. And if they call it, we’ll be leaving together as cast in unity with everyone,” she shared at the time. “We are gonna have to. We are gonna have to. We will see what happens. Right now it’s the joy to be together.”
Oppenheimer will be in theaters on Friday, July 21.
Director Christopher Nolan speaks to TODAY’s @SavannahGuthrie to talk about his new movie “Oppenheimer,” why he hand-delivered a script to star Cillian Murphy in Ireland, why he opted to avoid using CGI whenever possible during production, the SAG-AFTRA strike and more. pic.twitter.com/QFEG8d3Ljo
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 18, 2023
