Actor Jack Quaid started a group chat called the ‘Oppenhomies’ with the cast of Christopher Nolan’s epic biopic 'Oppenheimer' when the actor got stranded filming in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
“It’s like my biggest claim to fame at this point… starting a huge text chain,” Quaid said during an impromptu panel for author Jada Yuan’s “Unleashing Oppenheimer: Inside Christopher Nolan’s Atomic-Age Thriller” at a private Brooklyn.
The actor, who also stars in the hit show 'The Boys', recalled how he’d taken a taxi from his Hampton Inn while filming the Nolan drama to a local grocery store, then realised he had no way to get back, reports pagesix.com.
“I’m leaving, I have my cartful of groceries, I’m on my phone and I realise I was very lucky to get that Uber… because there’s no Uber,” said Quaid.
He added: “So I steal this grocery cart and I’m rolling it down the highway back to the hotel. That’s when I was like, ‘All right, I need a rental car and maybe we should start a text chain.'”
Quaid eventually rented a mini-van while shooting.
“I was a bus driver, essentially,” he said with a laugh.
His co-stars David Krumholtz, Devon Bostick and Olli Haaskivi also stopped by the Brooklyn book party.
“I would argue that ‘Oppenhomies’ is a way of life more than a text thread,” mused Haaskivi, who plays scientist Edward Condon in the film that has eight Golden Globe nominations.
The group said that co-star Kenneth Branagh, 63, is not on the chat, though in their hearts he is.
The “Oppenhomies” also revealed they had their own party in July, when the film hit theaters. There was no premiere in the US due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, so Haaskivi and Olivia Thirlby invited the cast to NYC for a private celebration at the 30 Rock roller rink.
“The thread was filled with people who were like, ‘I’m still going to come to New York to be with everybody,’” said Haaskivi.
“It was supposed to be a glitzy, glamorous night… not that 30 Rock is not glamorous, but we’re all terrible skaters. I sweated more that night than I’ve ever sweated in my life,” said Quaid.
“I think we all grew as athletes, though, which is the important thing,” Haaskivi replied.
Yuan’s book goes behind the scenes of the 2023 hit starring Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt.
