Oppenheimer: Emily Blunt Had A Real Life Devil Wears Prada Moment On Set With Nolan

Christopher Nolan is, without question, responsible for some of the best movies made within the last few decades. He also sounds like sort of a pain to work with, frankly, thanks to his incredibly strict on-set rules.

In Jada Yuan's profile of the director in The Washington Post, which details the fast-paced shoot for "Oppenheimer" that took place over just 57 days, star Emily Blunt says that Nolan was appalled by some of her offscreen footwear that didn't quite match up with his rules. Nolan asked that all of his actors, including Blunt, show up to set dressed entirely in costume or, at the very least, in clothing appropriate to the period in which "Oppenheimer" takes place (a time that spans from the 1920s to the 1960s). This was, according to Yuan, partly to make sure the actors could shoot scenes without much advance notice, but also because Nolan wanted actors to stay in character and avoid any modernity, even going so far as to ban cell phones.

So what was Blunt wearing? Ugg boots. "It was like a scene from 'The Devil Wears Prada,'" Blunt said, referencing the fashion comedy that introduced her to Hollywood. "Chris just looks down at your shoes, and it's like Meryl Streep is looking at your horrible fashion choice. I just thought, 'I'll never be seen dead in Ugg boots around him again.'" Blunt got the last word, though; when filming wrapped, she says she got Nolan "the ugliest Ugg slippers I could find."

Nolan clearly runs a tight ship, moving at a breakneck pace and also starting his day promptly at 7:00 each morning so that filming can wrap at a relatively normal time each day. (Yuan also notes that he eats the exact same breakfast every single day to boot.) Blunt is quite an experienced performer at this point, but according to the feature, she did find Nolan's ridigity a little difficult to handle at first. She came around eventually, though.

"It was a real wake-up call for me," Blunt said. "Chris's sets can seem strict going into it, and then you realize it's about placing the movie first. Every scene is so dialed in, because everyone's been conversing with each other. No one's been sitting in their own isolation looking at Instagram, distracting them from what they're doing. I found it the most focused, collaborative experience of my career. I just ran to work. I loved it."

Blunt's role in "Oppenheimer" isn't necessarily enormous, but it is crucial, considering that she plays the scientist's cold, troubled wife Kitty. (Oppenheimer himself, of course, is played by Cillian Murphy.) A biologist and botanist in her own right — though that's not explored in Nolan's film — Kitty left her husband after she becomes pregnant with Oppenheimer's child and married him, moving to the hastily constructed town of Los Alamos so that Oppenheimer could work on the development of the atomic bomb. "They would drink a lot and barely eat and smoked like chimneys, and they had this real passion and fire for each other," Blunt said, referencing the early, happier days of the pair's relationship. After they moved to Los Alamos, though, Kitty began to drink heavily, which is depicted on-screen.

"The loneliness of life in Los Alamos must have just been extraordinary, and I felt so deeply for this woman who was not a nice person and really rubbed people the wrong way," the actress explained. Perhaps the worst part is that, when Oppenheimer does successfully test his bomb, Kitty's not even present. "She doesn't get to see that," Blunt said. "She's busy hanging out laundry. Poor Kitty. No wonder she hit the drink."

"Oppenheimer" is in theaters now.