Cillian Murphy has praised Florence Pugh for "powerful" sex scenes in their latest film together.
Oppenheimer, which is set to hit major theatres on Friday (July 21), tells the story of the notorious American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb used in World War II.
While Murphy, 47, brings Oppenheimer to life in the story, Pugh, 27, acts as his ex-fianceé Jean Tatlock.
The pair have been commended on their electric chemistry behind the scenes while promoting the movie, but things are seemingly even better in the film as the pair play former lovers in an on-and-off romance.
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, the Peaky Blinders actor described the sex scenes between their characters as "powerful."
"Those scenes were written deliberately," Murphy said. "[Christopher Nolan, the director] knew that those scenes would get the movie the rating that it got.
"And I think when you see it, it’s so f**king powerful. And they’re not gratuitous. They’re perfect.
The star went on to describe Pugh as "amazing" saying: "I have loved Florence’s work since Lady Macbeth [William Oldroyd’s 2016 period drama about a woman embittered by a loveless marriage] and I think she’s f**king phenomenal."
He continued: "She has this presence as a person and on-screen that is staggering. The impact she has [in Oppenheimer] for the size of the role, it’s quite devastating."
In a separate interview with The Guardian, the 47-year-old opened up about the "chemistry tests" he and Pugh had to undergo in order to prepare for their intimate scenes together.
"They put two actors in a room to see if there’s any spark, and have all the producers and director at a table watching. I don’t know what metric they use, and it seems so outrageously silly, but sometimes you get a chemistry and nobody knows why," he told the outlet.
Over the past few weeks, the cast have embarked on a hectic press tour but have been doing their best to not give away the finer details of the three-hour-long film.
Though Nolan himself told Wired that some of the people who have seen it were left "absolutely devastated" and unable to speak.
"Some people leave the movie absolutely devastated. They can't speak. I mean, there's an element of fear that's there in the history and there in the underpinnings. But the love of the characters, the love of the relationships, is as strong as I've ever done," he said.
"Oppenheimer's story is all impossible questions. Impossible ethical dilemmas, paradox," Nolan continued. "There are no easy answers in his story. There are just difficult questions, and that's what makes the story so compelling.
"I think we were able to find a lot of things to be optimistic about in the film, genuinely, but there's this sort of overriding bigger question that hangs over it. It felt essential that there be questions at the end that you leave rattling in people's brains, and prompting discussion," he added.
Oppenheimer is set to be released this Friday.