Christopher Nolan doesn't mess around when it comes to making movies. While his movies famously amass big budgets, the money always is meant to go back into the film and not a dollar is wasted. That’s why when actors make a movie with the acclaimed filmmaker, they know they aren’t getting a comfortable living experience or a big paycheck, they do it for the experience. So, when it came to making Oppenheimer, the stars of the 2023 dramatic biopic didn’t exactly have fancy living quarters, which wasn’t exactly up to snuff for what Marvel star Robert Downey Jr. was used to.
During an interview from a classic episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, a few Oppenheimer cast members -- Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt and Downey -- opened up about the living conditions that took place while they were working on the film. Because they shot in places like the deserts of Los Alamos and New Mexico, they weren’t exactly offered the nicest places to stay in. Emily Blunt even described where they were staying to be a bit scary. She said:
Every penny is reserved for the screen in a Chris Nolan movie. So I stayed in... we stayed in... it kind of was like a cell block of little cabins. And I definitely pushed my suitcase against the door. And like Matt Damon was there, and Josh Hartnett, and Dane DeHaan. And I said, like, ‘If you hear me scream, I need all of you to come running!’
It sounds like a less than ideal situation, though most of the cast was willing to put up with for the sake of making the best movie possible. Robert Downey Jr., however, has been very self aware about what he can and can’t handle. He revealed that he honestly stayed somewhere else nicer apart from the cast and ended up using his own money to do it:
I jetted in in a G650 and stayed at a place called The Inn of the Five Graces. And while Cillian was at the Comfort Inn, I was getting shots. I knew that my dry cleaning budget exceeded my salary, and I was going to have to come out of pocket.
RDJ's clearly kidding in his delivery of this information, but I believe he is being completely honest in saying he used his own money to pay for different hotel accommodations. I mean, I can imagine that coming from a cushy position, thanks to making Marvel movies, he wasn’t exactly ready to rough-it in the desert. He, of course, has the money to do all this, as Jimmy Kimmel pointed that out as being one of the reasons actors do Marvel movies. And Downey didn’t deny it.
While some may say this is a bit of diva behavior, I think it actually makes a lot of sense. Downey paid for it himself, and therefore, his need to be comfortable didn’t affect the production or his other co-stars. Plus, him being separate from the other actors makes sense for the character he plays in Oppenheimer. He plays the antagonist, Lewis Strauss, and him not being a part of the camaraderie that being in cabins with the other cast members brings creates a natural divide.
Additionally, his luxury accommodations didn’t do anything to dampen his performance, as Downey ended up winning the Oscar for the role. Marvel Studios pays RDJ a lot of money, and it seems like using the Marvel salary for his benefit was absolutely worth it.
You can revisit Robert Downey Jr’s critically acclaimed performance in Oppenheimer, which is now streaming with a Peacock subscription. Fans of the actor can also see him in his buzzy Marvel film on the 2026 movie schedule, Avengers: Doomsday, which hits theaters on December 18th.
