Florence Pugh and Rami Malek are the latest A-listers to join Christopher Nolan’s starry biopic Oppenheimer.
The pair will appear in the film opposite Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon and Emily Blunt in the film. Uncut Gems filmmaker Benny Safdie has also been confirmed in the latest casting announcement.
Pugh is reported to play Jean Tatlock, a member of the Communist Party of the United States who had a romantic involvement with Oppenheimer, played by Murphy in the film.
Meanwhile, Malek will play one of Oppenheimer’s fellow scientists working on the development of the hydrogen bomb, and Safdie will be Hungarian physicist Edward Teller, who was regarded as the father of the hydrogen bomb.
Pugh took to Instagram stories to share her reaction to the news. “The most exciting and crazy end to 2021,” she wrote. “Thank you thank you pinch me pinch me pinch me.”
Oppenheimer will be Nolan’s first film with Universal after parting ways with his longstanding studio Warner Bros.
Almost every film by Nolan since 2002’s Insomnia has been released with Warner Bros. Their partnership included The Dark Knight trilogy, Dunkirk, Inception and Tenet, while Warner Bros handled the international release of The Prestige and Interstellar.
Nolan’s decision to switch to Universal comes after the director criticised Warner Bros. over their plans to release their 2021 film slate simultaneously on streaming service HBO Max.
Pugh appeared on small screens this week in the fourth episode of Marvel spin-off series Hawkeye. She has reprised her Black Widow character Yelena Belova for the show, who has come after Jeremy Renner’s titular character to avenge her sister.