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When you watch "Oppenheimer," you might feel like you're being transported to the exact places where history unfolded — and, in some cases, you are.
Nolan's latest movie is a haunting look at J. Robert Oppenheimer's life and his cataclysmic, years-long work on the top-secret Manhattan Project, which saw the US develop the two atomic bombs eventually dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.
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The director sought to bring Oppenheimer's world to life using sets that replicated real-life locations and the actual places themselves.
Take a peek at 12 real locations that were featured in the film and that you can visit across the country.
AdvertisementNew staff would begin their journey in New Mexico by arriving at this train station. Erected in 1909, the Spanish Mission-style train station was essentially in the middle of nowhere.
According to the Atomic Heritage Foundation, Dorothy McKibbin, who worked on the Manhattan Project, gave Project Y staff their top-secret clearance and official identification passes and directions to the secret location of Los Alamos. Based in Santa Fe, she was known as the gatekeeper of Los Alamos, and greeted Project Y scientists before sending them on the 2-hour journey to the secretive town Santa Fe residents called "The Hill."
The Lamy Train Station is now an Amtrak-operated station, and visitors can take a shuttle bus between the station and Santa Fe. It's a 40-minute drive from the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which is managed by a partnership between the Department of Energy and the National Park Service.
AdvertisementThe home was originally built in 1929, and Oppenheimer lived there with his family — wife Kitty, daughter Toni, and son Peter — while he worked in Los Alamos from 1943 to 1945.
According to the National Park Service, before the Manhattan Project moved in, the property was known as the Los Alamos Ranch School.
Today, the home is operated by the Los Alamos History Museum but it can only be seen from the outside.
It is a 5-minute walk from the Manhattan Project National Historical Park's visitor center, which is open to the public Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., apart from on major holidays.
AdvertisementAmong the real Manhattan Project-era places used for filming was the Civilian Women's Dormitory in the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.
While military personnel were primarily housed in barracks within their own section of Los Alamos, civilians were placed in one of four civilian dormitories — two male and two female — in what is now downtown Los Alamos, according to the National Park Service. This dormitory, in particular, was where female civilians and non-military staff lived while working for the Manhattan Project. It is all that remains of the civilian dormitories once constructed on the mesa.
It is operated by Los Alamos County, which allows public access to the outside through public tours facilitated by the Department of Energy.
AdvertisementBuilt in 1928 by renowned architect John Gaw Meem, Fuller Lodge once served as the dining hall for the Los Alamos Ranch School. In 1942, both it and the surrounding land were bought by the Manhattan Project, which would be used as a community center for their workers.
By far the largest of the remaining school buildings, the lodge was used as a mess hall and guest quarters for visiting scientists, as well as a space for plays, dances, and other events. It was used as an auditorium in the film, and can be seen in the trailer.
It is now owned by Los Alamos County. Fuller Lodge is open to the public and currently serves as a community center. It also houses the offices of the Los Alamos Historical Society, the Fuller Lodge Art Center, and the Los Alamos Arts Council.
AdvertisementCillian Murphy, who plays Oppenheimer, and Matt Damon's character, Lieutenant General Leslie Groves — an engineer and one of the architects of the Manhattan Project — were spotted in military attire at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, both in the trailer and while filming last year in Los Angeles.
The hotel is a historic landmark in Los Angeles, entertaining guests now for nearly a century. The Millennium Biltmore Hotel opened in 1923 and has appeared in films such as "Ghostbusters," "Fight Club," and "Chinatown." It has also hosted nine different US presidents. At one point, it was even home to the early days of the Academy Awards ceremony.
Today, it remains a luxury, five-star hotel where you can book rooms starting at $153.
AdvertisementAccording to Sports Illustrated, Nolan's production team transformed various locations on the University of California Berkeley's campus for "Oppenheimer" in May 2022. This included Edwards Stadium, which is the university's football and athletics stadium.
The historic field, located on the southwest corner of Berkeley's campus at Fulton Street, opened in 1932. It is one of few current sites on campus that existed when Oppenheimer taught at Berkeley between 1929 and 1943, with the stadium largely unchanged from the way it appeared back then. It is also the only athletic venue used in the film.
Although there is nothing to confirm Oppenheimer participated in anything athletic at Berkeley's Edwards Stadium, the trailer suggests he may have walked through it at the very least.
Managed by Berkeley's Intercollegiate Athletics, the field has open fencing, but members of the public cannot go inside apart from during certain hours for games and other events related to the university.
AdvertisementPhysics North was a 1924 building that was known as LeConte Hall until 2020. It was included in a set constructed over two days by Nolan's production team for "Oppenheimer" because it once housed the real Oppenheimer's office on the third floor, according to the university.
According to SF Gate, filming primarily took place through Campanile Way, the road leading to what was once LeConte Hall and is currently known as Physics North.
Today, you can visit Berkeley's open campus and see Physics North on one of its tours, or if you are a visitor to the Physics Department, there is a Front Office at 366 Physics North.
AdvertisementAccording to a report from UC Berkeley's physics department, filming also occurred here, on Campanile Way, outside of Wheeler Hall on the left and near Sather Tower seen straight ahead.
According to the Radio Times, Nolan made the campus appear as it did in the 1940s — old cars, vintage lamp posts, and costumes included.
Campus tours take visitors down Campanile Way. They are offered seven days a week, year-round, except for most major holidays and home football game days, the day of the Berkeley Showcase, Thanksgiving Day, the day after Thanksgiving, Winter Break, and Cal Day.
AdvertisementFilming took place on the third floor of Kerckhoff Hall in February last year. According to the Associated Students of UCLA, filming took place in the Charles E. Young Grand Salon, Louise Kerckhoff Third Floor Study Lounge, and Kerckhoff Art Gallery, which were transformed into Oppenheimer's laboratory and dormitory.
It is a Student Union building, one of two owned by the ASUCLA, or the Associated Students UCLA. Kerckhoff Hall was also featured in "Legally Blonde" and "Scream 2."
The University of California Los Angeles is an open campus. Kerckhoff Hall, specifically, is also an event venue that can be rented. A page on ASUCLA's website also provides interactive tours of the various spots in the hall used in filming.
AdvertisementThe Institute for Advanced Study, or the IAS, is known for being the academic home of scholars such as Oppenheimer, Albert Einstein, Hermann Weyl, Kurt Gödel, and John von Neumann. It was founded in 1930 as a research center.
Following World War II, Oppenheimer was offered the position of director of the Institute for Advanced Study. He moved to the East Coast to head the Institute in 1947 until 1966, a year before his death. This would also be where he met Einstein, his colleague at the time, played by Tom Conti in the film.
Despite collaborative ties, the IAS operates independently of Princeton University. That said, Oppenheimer was known to give public lectures at the prestigious university. This historical facility was included in the filming locations as Oppenheimer's former workplace.
The buildings are not open to the public, nor are there tours so as to preserve the work environment of the faculty and visiting scholars. However, the woods and grounds are open and enjoyed year-round by visitors. There are also public events throughout the year, from lectures by the Institute's scholars to the Edward T. Cone Concert Series.
AdvertisementAccording to Town Topics, Princeton's Weekly Community Newspaper, filming took place at the Olden Farm in April 2022. Olden Farm was owned by the Olden family for seven generations before it was taken over by the Institute for Advanced Study.
It has been the official residence of the director of the Institute for Advanced Study since 1936. It was also where Oppenheimer lived with his family during his tenure as the third director of IAS.
As it is still the actual home of the current director, the public can only see the house from the outside, but it's still a fun stop of Oppenheimer's old stomping grounds.
