Cillian Murphy Ate ‘A lot of Cheese’ to Decompress After Filming Oppenheimer (Exclusive)

Cillian Murphy celebrated the finish Oppenheimer in a unique way.

For PEOPLE’s annual Oscar portfolio, the Irish actor, 47, was joined by co-stars Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt in a wide-ranging interview where they talked about their on-set relationship, seashells, nightmares with kittens and how they relaxed after filming wrapped.

Murphy admits he “ate a lot of cheese” after finishing playing scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer in the award-winning film.

Cillian Murphy.

Getty Images

When asked why the dairy is his favorite, Blunt (41) was happy to explain.

“Because he needed decompression. Cheese is a great decompression,” said the actress who played his wife Kitty Oppenheimer.

Murphy, who previously said he enjoyed the cheese during the SAG-AFTRA strike, said he was already well stocked. “I got so much free cheese,” he said.

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And what kind of A-list actor could he get? Only the best.

“Good cheese. Like an aged cheddar from a cheddar company,” Murphy joked, adding that he “could take a whole wheel” of Parmesan cheese if he “could get it through customs.”

Cast members also recalled where they were when they first found out OppenheimerOscar nominations. Murphy was in Cork City, Ireland having tea with his parents and wife when he got the call.

Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy.

Brian Bowen Smith

Blunt just dropped off her youngest daughter, Violet Krasinski, 7, who she shares with John Krasinski, for a rooftop day in New York — “which sounds ominous, but it’s not,” she said.

The The devil wears Prada alum says she “was aware that it was kind of around [that time] they would read it. I came back and John had it on his phone.” The couple celebrated “on the streets of New York and it was really epic.”

Meanwhile, Downey, 58, who played Lewis Strauss, chairman of the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and Oppenheimer’s adversary, slept.

‘Oppenheimer’ cast: Meet the A-list actors starring in Christopher Nolan’s film

“I was dead asleep and I had this nightmare that one of the kittens had taken one of my Nicorette wrappers and I was going to have problems again with the lady or my daughter Avri,” Iron man the actor tells PEOPLE.

He clarified that he actually meant real kittens and didn’t use a cute nickname for his children.

“And then Susan shook me and said, ‘Oh, Papi could get another little prize. Will he be happy now?’” he joked.

The 96th Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will be broadcast live on Sunday, March 10, from the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California, beginning at 7:00 PM ET.

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Source: HIS Education