Cillian Murphy's reserved nature doesn't make him any less "captivating," according to his Oppenheimer costar Emily Blunt.
During a group interview with PEOPLE Monday at the 96th Oscar Nominees Luncheon in Beverly Hills, California, Blunt, 40, told Murphy, "There is a reverence that you are so deserving of."
"And you are, like, the quietest conductor of this whole thing," says the actress, who also starred with Murphy, 47, in 2021's A Quiet Place Part II. "You don't mean to be — it's not in your nature to want to lead — but I think that there's something just captivating about you, whether you like it or not, that people are spellbound by."
"And it is. As much as you like to say, 'This is all of [director] Chris Nolan,' why people are so captivated by this film, but it's you," Blunt adds.
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Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy at the 96th Oscar Nominees Luncheon in Beverly Hills, California, on Feb. 12, 2024.JC Olivera/Getty
In the same conversation, the duo's costar Robert Downey Jr. praised Murphy's "leadership," adding, "You are meant and born to be at the front of big cinematic experiences."
He went on to joke of the reception they received at a Q&A, "I come in, I get your typical, 'It's Tony Stark, but now he's bald.' Cillian comes in, people start standing up. Chris comes in, everyone's on their feet."
Murphy is nominated at the upcoming Academy Awards for the first time, in the Best Actor category, for his role as J. Robert Oppenheimer.
Meanwhile, Blunt is up for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as his wife Kitty Oppenheimer, and Downey Jr., 58, is in the running for Best Supporting Actor as Atomic Energy Commission chairman Lewis Strauss.
Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures
The A-list cast of Nolan's epic all agree the film's star, Irish actor Murphy, gives the performance of his life as the American physicist who led the U.S. effort to create an atomic bomb during World War II.
But they also agree that his deep-blue eyes can be distracting when acting opposite him.
"It’s a real problem when you’re doing scene work with Cillian,” Matt Damon told PEOPLE last summer, in a group interview alongside Blunt and Murphy. "Sometimes you find yourself just swimming in his eyes."
"It’s like that 'Ocean Eyes’ song by Billie Eilish. We just hum it all day," Blunt joked.
"They’re not even that blue!" Murphy exclaimed in response to his costars' comments.
Oppenheimer is now streaming on Peacock.
The 96th Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will be held Sunday, March 10, inside the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, and will air live on ABC at 7 p.m. ET.
