The Very Important Reason Why Actors Are Given Red Scripts

Ever wondered how some of the world’s biggest movies are successfully kept under wraps until the day they’re screened?

Well, according to Cillian Murphy, the Oppenehimer script he was hand-delivered by director Christopher Nolan himself had a special detail that would stop them from being duplicated.

The Peaky Blinders star revealed all during an interview with 60 Minutes while showing off his original script.

And the Bafta winner’s script was notably… red.

Why? Because the combo makes the scripts far harder to be illegally photocopied and leaked before a film hits the big screen.

Referencing the script, Cillian noted: “[Nolan’s scripts] are always printed on red paper with black ink, unhelpfully, I guess to prevent against photocopying. But I don’t know who photocopies in 2024.

“He’s always had a tradition of printing on red paper with black ink. And it has my name kind of watermarked on each page, so it’s my fault [if it leaks].”

Interstellar actress Jessica Chastain has also shown off her own red and black script given to her by Nolan for the 2014 sci-fi epic

And it’s not just Nolan who uses the magic of red scripts to keep his movies from being leaked – the cast of Lost were also routinely given red scripts to stop them from being copied.

During his 60 Minutes interview, Cillian also showed off a touching note from Nolan on the cover of his original script which read: “Dearest Cillian, finally a chance to see you lead…”

Before Oppenheimer, Cillian had appeared in supporting roles in five of the British filmmaker’s movies.