Cillian Murphy made quick pitch to Matt Damon during rare Oppenheimer break

Cillian Murphy pitched 'Small Things Like These' to Matt Damon during a break filming 'Oppenheimer' in the desert at night.

The 47-year-old actor can next be seen in the adaptation of Claire Keegan's novel of the same name, which tells the story of Ireland's infamous Magdalen laundries, and he explained he got his co-star on board to co-produce via his and Ben Affleck's Artists Equity firm by telling him the story during a snatched gap between scenes.

He told Variety: "Their company paid for the movie and we produced it together. I pitched it to Matt when we were out in the desert and shooting 'Oppenheimer'."

Asked if he'd arranged to meet Matt over dinner to discuss the movie, Cillian - who also produced the movie via his company Big Things Films - said: "I wasn’t going for dinner. I wasn’t eating. It was in between set-ups. I think it was during one of the rain set-ups. There’s no time wasted on a Chris Nolan film. There is rarely sitting around. There are no seats.

"But on this occasion it was a night shoot. We were waiting for the rain towers to get fixed and I pitched him this idea and he went for it."

The project means a lot to the Irish actor and he hopes they have been able to "do justice" to the original story.

He said: "It’s a film that’s very important to me. I’ve produced it, and I’m acting in it. And it’s an adaptation of a book, which is one of my favorite books. We’re the first Irish film to open [the Berlin Film Festival].

"[The books is] heartbreaking and beautiful and quiet and political. It has all the qualities that I enjoy. I hope we’ve been able to do it justice in the adaptation."