actor Jack Quaid recalls the surprising complement he got from Christopher Nolan, despite his limited role. Hitting theaters in 2023, Nolan’s World War II historical epic about J. Robert Oppenheimer’s creation of the first atomic bomb was a massive hit both critically and commercially, with Cillian Murphy playing the titular theoretical physicist. Oppenheimer features a star-studded cast to bring its abundance of historical figures to life, with Quaid, who is well known for starring in The Boys and a new action comedy called Novocaine (2024), playing a small role as real-life scientist Richard Feynman.
In a recent interview with Men’s Health, Quaid looks back on his time filming Oppenheimer, revealing that Nolan gave him a unique complement for his bongo-playing performance during a scene set at Christmas. Quaid features sparingly in the scene in question, but the director still took the time to tell the actor that he was “impressed.” Check out Quaid’s comment below when asked to share something about Nolan that people would find surprising:
I think the world knows this, but I was surprised by just how good of a sense of humor he has. He’s a very funny person. Very dry, very witty. He would always come to set wearing suits that I would love to wear for a red carpet, but this was just day-to-day for him.
One of my favorite moments from shooting was, obviously, I’m playing the bongos a lot. But I remember shooting the Christmas party scene, and it was incredible. I’m playing the bongos, and more of a glorified extra in that, but looking around the room, not caring about the size of my role at all, just looking around and getting to see, like, OK, there’s Kenneth Branagh, there’s Emily Blunt, there’s Cillian Murphy, there’s Matt Damon—and they’re all doing, like, the best work of their career, and I just get to watch it. It was unbelievable.
But then the next day, we were shooting something else, and Chris stops everything, and just looks at me, and goes [Nolan impersonation] “I saw the dailies for the bongos—you really impressed me.” And I just never in a million years thought I would get a bongo compliment from Christopher Nolan, but there we were. Really surreal, really weird, but so great.
What Quaid’s Oppenheimer Story Means For Christopher Nolan
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Quaid’s story about receiving a complement from Nolan speaks to just how idolized the director is not just among film-goers and movie buffs, but among those working in Hollywood. The Oppenheimer cast is a testament to just how much people want to work with the filmmaker. The movie features performances from Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Matt Damon, Jason Clarke, Kenneth Branagh, Rami Malek, and Dane DeHaan, among others, and it’s been reported that many actors involved took pay cuts in order to work with Nolan.
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The strong cast evidently helped the movie succeed, as Oppenheimer reviews were glowing from critics and the film grossed a staggering $975 million worldwide. The desire to work with Nolan on Oppenheimer wasn’t a fluke, however, and an equally-impressive cast has been assembled for his next movie, The Oydssey. Damon leads this upcoming historical epic, with Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Jon Bernthal, Charlize Theron, Lupita Nyong’o, and Elliot Page, among others, all set to appear.
The Odyssey is currently in production and has a release date set for July 17, 2026.
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Quaid has a very minor role in Oppenheimer, but he’s still a standout in the scenes that he’s in. It’s clear from Quaid’s story that he looks back fondly on his time in the movie and at the opportunity to work with one of Hollywood’s greatest living directors. It’s also clear that Nolan, in addition to having an eye for massive set pieces and mind-bending stories, also knows how to get strong performances out of his actors, even when they’re in minor roles.
Oppenheimer has set the bar very high for Nolan’s The Odyssey, a film that carries a massive budget of $250 million. Though Quaid may not be in the upcoming epic, the film certainly features a stacked cast, and at least some of the names mentioned above will probably end up having fairly small roles. It’s not clear what projects are in Nolan’s future, but Quaid would seemingly jump at the opportunity to work with the director again after Oppenheimer.
Source: Men’s Health
