‘Oppenheimer’ Star Cillian Murphy Was Also up for the Same Role in ‘Manhattan’ TV Series

Cillian Murphy has impressed many with his incredibly dedicated approach to taking on the role of J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan‘s Oppenheimer. However, it wasn’t Nolan who first envisioned Murphy as the theoretical physicist.

According to Deadline, the producers behind the 2014 WGN America series Manhattan — a series that centered around the Manhattan Project and the development of the atomic bomb in Los Alamos, New Mexico — had considered Murphy for the role of Oppenheimer.

While the role ultimately went to Daniel London, Oppenheimer was not nearly as central of a figure in Manhattan as he is in the new blockbuster biopic. The show primarily focused on Dr. Frank Winter (John Benjamin Hickey) who was based on real-life physicist and Manhattan Project member Seth Neddermeyer. London appeared in only eight of the 23 total episodes of the show as Oppenheimer.

Manhattan showrunner Sam Shaw and his wife and series writer Lila Byock recently spoke to Vanity Fair about their casting of the short-lived show.

“When we were casting Oppenheimer, we went through a whole series of different ideas,” Byock shared in an article published Tuesday (July 25).

Shaw explained that they “wanted Oppenheimer to feel both like he possessed a certain undeniable charisma, a presence onstage, but also that he was playing a different instrument.”

“He needed to feel alien, or other, in some ways,” he added. “Cillian Murphy was on that list.”

The two disclosed that their list also included the late singer-songwriter David Bowie and Ebon Moss-Bachrach of The Bear fame.

Murphy, who has received tremendous praise from both his castmates and new viewers alike, described J. Robert Oppenheimer as “dancing between the raindrops morally” and “ultimately unknowable to The Guardian.

Oppenheimer is currently in theaters and Manhattan is available to stream on Hulu.