Cillian Murphy is talking about the steamy s*x scenes he was in with Florence Pugh in Christopher Nolan’s movie Oppenheimer. The actor called Pugh “phenomenal” and said that she made the scenes so “powerful.”

In the historical tale of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man who invented the atomic bomb, Murphy plays the main character, and Pugh plays Jean Tatlock, a psychiatrist who is a member of the Communist Party. The story also looks at Oppenheimer’s relationship with Tatlock, which happened while he was still married to Katherine (played by Emily Blunt).

“Those [sex] scenes were written deliberately. He knew that those scenes would get the movie the rating that it got,” he told Sydney Morning Herald when talking about the scenes that Nolan was “nervous” to direct.

The star also said that the scenes don’t just happen and that they make the movie more powerful. “And I think when you see it, it’s so f***ng powerful. And they’re not gratuitous. They’re perfect. And Florence is just amazing,” he said.

The actor from Peaky Blinders said that he admired the indie film star, who has done great things in movies like Midsommar and The Wonder.

He also said, “I have loved Florence’s work since Lady Macbeth and I think she’s f***ing phenomenal. 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.”