Downey Jr reveals Christopher Nolan took two daily bathroom breaks for efficiency on 'Oppenheimer' sets

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Robert Downey Jr reveals that director Christopher Nolan gets so engrossed in his work that he had designated just two “bathroom breaks” per day on the sets of ‘Oppenheimer.’

During a new oral history on ‘Oppenheimer’ for Vanity Fair, the biopic stars Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr, and Emily Blunt opened up about their experiences working with the 53-year-old British-American director.

Robert Downey Jr reveals Christopher Nolan’s strict rules for bathroom breaks

During the discussion, the stars engaged in a candid chat about the habits of the ‘Inception’ director, who is known for his strictness during the filming process.

The prolific director has gained a reputation for being a strict taskmaster as several stars have previously shared that he doesn’t like to keep chairs on his sets to boost productivity.

When the stars were asked their opinions on Nolan’s sets being chair-free, Blunt shared that there was an apple box around to sit on.

Following the cue, Downey quipped, "Human resources are scarce," before adding, "And the idea is that this is a Spartan endeavor,” per Business Insider.

“And also, I think that Chris, from all the films that he's done, he deplores waste,” added the Marvel star before noting, “He is a conservationist of the highest order."

Praising ‘The Dark Knight’ director’s meticulousness and need for precision, Downey said, "Everything is happening in front of the camera," before adding, "There is no budget for anything that's not happening in front of the camera."

Downey said that to achieve ultra-efficiency in his sets, Nolan is strict about allowing bathroom breaks to his actors as well as himself.

The ‘Iron Man’ star said, "He doesn't even really like it when you go to the bathroom, but he understands you have to.”

He continued, "And I asked him, dude, when do you go? And he goes, 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. And I was like, are you f*****g with me?"

As Blunt speculated, "And he drinks so much tea, how does he not go right through it?" Downey replied, "I know, but it's not a diuretic tea.”

The 58-year-old actor complimented Nolan saying, "He won't ask anyone to do anything that he's not 1000% willing to do himself, twice as hard.”

Cillian Murphy previously said Christopher Nolan is not ‘sympathetic’ to bathroom breaks

Before the film’s release in July 2023, Murphy opened up about Nolan’s strictness to Collider.

When he was asked to share a surprising fact about the director, the ‘Peaky Blinders’ star said, "He's not that sympathetic to toilet breaks. I'll leave that there."

He, however, later praised the director for his attitude toward enhancing the actors’ performance.

The ‘Dunkirk’ star said, "He is brilliant with actors, understands actors, loves actors, really believes in actors and what they can bring to the story and to the character. So an awful lot of the time, we'll just find it,” before adding, “We'll be shooting, but we'll be finding the scene, and he'll let us experiment and explore stuff."

Murphy continued, "And then he may come in and just kind of whisper very quietly in your ear, and generally the notes are very precise and succinct and brief, where they can totally spin the performance.”

He concluded by saying, "And that's his genius. It also comes from the fact that he's written it, so he's direct access to it. But he's phenomenal, like, really phenomenal."