Cillian Murphy "loved every minute" of being the leading man in 'Oppenheimer'.

The 47-year-old actor finally takes centre stage in Christopher Nolan's new blockbuster as J. Robert Oppenheimer – the father of the atomic bomb – and relished his latest collaboration with the acclaimed director.

Speaking at the movie's UK premiere in London on Thursday (13.07.23) – which he and fellow cast members left early following the announcement of the SAG-AFTRA strike – Cillian said: "I've loved every minute of it. It's a dream job to work with all these astonishingly talented actors, the best actors in the world.

"Myself and Chris have been working together for 20 years now and it feels like we were working towards this point the whole time."

Cillian has worked with Nolan on movies such as 'The Dark Knight' and 'Inception' but considers the director's latest picture – which also features stars such as Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh and Robert Downey Jr. - to be his most accomplished work yet.

Asked how the filmmaker's style has changed, the 'Peaky Blinders' actor said: "I think he's just focusing on refining his vision the whole time, I think this might be his magnum opus.

"I'll be there for any part he wants, you know sword carrier or whatever, I'll be there."

The much-anticipated film's powerful subject matter has provoked strong reactions from those who have seen the movie and Cillian believes that the project contains everything that an audience wants on the big screen.

He said: "People are devastated, people are overwhelmed. People want to see it two or three times. People are moved, it's all of the things that you want from cinema really."