Cillian Murphy’s head was glued shut on Oppenheimer set thanks to Emily Blunt’s gift: 'I was a bit shocked'

"I just came in and then she glued my head, covered it all up, and you don't even see it in the movie, I think.”

Emily Blunt is revealing how a well-intentioned gift for her Oppenheimer costar Cillian Murphy led to him needing to get his head glued shut at 3 a.m.

The actress explained on Thursday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live that she purchased a “very beautiful pillow” for Murphy as present so that he could catch some extra sleep while they were shooting the Christopher Nolan film together. 

"I just felt Cillian needed — even more than food — was sleep on this movie,” Blunt said, before turning to Murphy on the couch next to her and adding, “Do you mind if I tell the story?”

Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy attend the UK Premiere of "Oppenheimer" at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 13, 2023 in London, England.
Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy.

Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images

“I mean, you’re gonna,” Murphy replied as Blunt, Jimmy Kimmel, and fellow guest star Robert Downey Jr. all both burst into laughter. 

As Blunt tells it, Murphy was “really luxuriating in this pillow one night” when he woke up, decided to get cozier in bed, and then immediately suffered the consequences for it.  “He went to fluff himself back down in the pillow, misjudged where it was — the cool side, flipped it — and smashed his head open on the bedside table,” she said. “So he came to work and they had to glue his head shut!"

Murphy confirmed that the film’s makeup designer, Luisa Abel, had to step in and treat his head wound. "I was a bit shocked, you know!” he remarked. “I was having a great sleep, and I had this amazing pillow and then, you know, it was a strange bed, strange table, and [then] bang."

Thankfully, Murphy revealed that the cast and crew had an early start time the next morning, so he was able to get it taken care of rather quickly. 

"We were getting up before it was bright, like at 2 a.m. or something, 3 a.m,” he explained. “So I called her then and I just came in and then she glued my head, covered it all up, and you don't even see it in the movie, I think.”

Watch Blunt and Murphy discuss his head wound in the clip above.

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