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CILLIAN MURPHY HAS won the Oscar for Best Actor at the 96th Academy Awards for his portrayal of J Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan’s biopic about the father of the atomic bomb.
The Cork man beat out Paul Giamatti, Colman Dominguez, Bradley Cooper and Jeffrey Wright to claim his first ever Academy Award at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles overnight.
Accepting the award, Murphy said he was “in awe of” his fellow nominees.
Murphy began his speech by paying tribute to director Christopher Nolan and producer Emma Thomas.
“It’s been the wildest, most exhilarating, most creatively satisfying journey you’ve taken me on over the last 20 years. I owe you more than I can say.”
Cillian Murphy wins Best Actor at the #Oscars for 'Oppenheimer.' pic.twitter.com/8fyVOefjLC
— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) March 11, 2024
“I want to thank Yvonne McGuinness, my partner in life and art. My two boys, Malachy and Aran who are sitting up there, I love you so much. I’m a very proud Irishman standing here tonight,” said Murphy.
Speaking about the significance of Oppenheimer, Murphy said: “We made a film about the man who created the atomic bomb. For better or worse, we’re all living in Oppenheimer’s world so I would really like to dedicate this to the peacemakers everywhere.”
Signing-off as Gaeilge he added: “Go raibh míle maith agaibh.”
Murphy’s speech was met with a standing ovation from much of the crowd.
Speaking about Murphy’s turn as Oppenheimer in a new format that saw five past winners introduce this year’s nominees, Ben Kingsley said: “The performance was masterful … and riveting to watch.”
The award caps a momentous awards season for Murphy, who has won the equivalent award at the Baftas, the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Murphy’s win was quickly followed by a Best Director gong for Christopher Nolan, the Englishman’s first Academy Award in that category. In his acceptance speech, Nolan paid tribute to his cast, “led by the incredible Cillian Murphy”.
Oppenheimer went on to win Best Picture, completing a major sweep of the night’s accolades with a total of seven Oscars.
Irishman Robbie Ryan was nominated in the Best Cinematography category for his work on Poor Things but lost out to Oppenheimer’s cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema on the night.
Despite last summer’s ‘Barbenheimer’ rivalry Barbie claimed just one award, winning best song for Billie Eilish’s What Was I Made For? You can find a list of the winners in full here.
Arts and culture minister Catherine Martin and Tánaiste Micheál Martin have been amongst those paying tribute to Murphy, with the Tánaiste describing it as “a very proud day for Cork and Ireland”.
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Well done Cillian and well deserved. Proud to be Irish. Lovely words.
@Cathy McMahon: another great cork man
@Jimmy Wallace: don’t worry, huey off fair city will bag something eventually.
@Jimmy Wallace: Well obviously as he was in America. Need I say anymore.
@Jimmy Wallace: look what happened to Collins when he mentioned cork …. sure no one will Hurt me in my home county …. didn’t end well for him ….so he was better off not mentioning the place
@Jimmy Wallace: Irish by birth, Cork by the Grace of God !!
@Jimmy Wallace: no more importantly we are from Cork.
@Jimmy Wallace: Just as well he’s not a Dub. We’d never hear the end of it.
There’ always the “stars of Fair City” to be going on with and the blessed Tubs.
@Jimmy Wallace: Class act….does’nt need to. There’s plenty blowing their own trumpet…RTE Donnybrook take note.
@and the hit’s just keep coming: It was nothing personal. I suppose that there were a few locals around when Kevin O’Higgins..was killed (not from Cork).
@Daniel Buckley:surely theres some common ground, if you polled people most would agree Dublin and Cork are equally insufferable nowadays when it comes to a win in gaelic games.
We all live in Oppenheimers world , as he said…here’s ” to the peacemakers everywhere ” . The world needs it now more than ever
Legend. It’s been a long time coming. Unreal actor
The Irish punch above our weight in so many aspects of life, well done to all who play their part in this
But more importantly, hew from cark
@Seán O’Sullivan: l am are hew
I’m surprised the UK haven’t claimed he is English yet …
@Jimmy Wallace: back to bed with you Jimmy if your tired ..
@Andy Moylan: They have ,that flute Jonathan Ross called him British last night apparently.
@Jimmy Wallace: But True comments
@Jimmy Wallace: tis repetitive and predictable when the brits do it everytime as well.
Well done Cillian lad.
Well done Cillian Murphy. Terrible film though with grating music, hammed up acting and a 50 min final act that bored me to tears so much I couldn’t wait to get out the cinema fast enough.
@Marcus Maher – Triskellion Films: I’m so mad they didnt have hans zimmer for the soundtrack. Everything would’ve been 10x better.
@Marcus Maher – Triskellion Films: Guaranteed an Oscar so ,invariably the winners are unwatchable muck.
@Marcus Maher – Triskellion Films: I can’t remember the last time I saw a good movie, Monsters Ball maybe?
@Marcus Maher – Triskellion Films: It was an Epic movie! Glued to the screen for the full 3hrs, really incredible acting and intelligent film-making. Cillian Murphy was exceptional in his portrayal.
I understand the Oppenhimer story it’s self is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, and it’s a movie with heavy dialogue that requires the viewer to be fully attentive/focused when watching. Well done Cillian.
@Angela Cummins: Oh no Angela I can be attentive to dialogue and it was nothing to do with my attention span, it was plodding after the main act after the bomb was dropped for the litigious lawyer courtroom drama that it became for the last 50 mins, with testimonies, sworn avadavits, it added nothing to the film whatsoever and how is it I’m finding a 4 min cameo by Gary Oldman the most memorable part of the film.
Well deserved. Read the review of his career here and saw no mention of the film Sunshine. Well worth a watch and a deadly soundtrack.
Don’t think anything will ever beat his performance as Thomas Shelby in Peaky Blinders, he was absolutely magnificent in that. Great achievement by Cillian to win an Oscar, but it’s also indicative of how bad cinema is these days, in that Oppenheimer won so many awards.
Does anyone take heed of these awards anymore, kinda biased if a film is remotely or directly containing or referencing a Jewish person , not running them down but there is a bit of a trend , and an extra plus if the film is dreary
I Knew a Cork man once with an inferiority complex,( He thought he was only as good as everyone else!)
Maith thu a mhac!
Mixed bag in the Best picture like always, but a step up imo this year, delighted Stone got the oscar for this performance because it is a knockout. Most watchable film by Lanthimos so far
Also so so happy that Godzilla Minus one won its oscar!
One would think, the Policy Makers of Ireland, would have a lot more to say and something far more profound to follow it up with.
Such as – putting it on the Curriculum.
Putting on the Leaving Cert, permanently.
Especially if it is ever followed up with a Japanese-centric, and equally impactful, Film.
To place both on the curriculum, in tandem, would be a highly impactful development of the Course.
And possibly a number of curriculum courses, not just English/Literature [Film, to replace archaic WASP-culture Plays of Shakespeare], but also Science [Nuclear+Genomic instability], Geography-Geology [Nuclear=RisingGlobalTemperature], Ethics, and CSPE.
Better yet – reach out to Japan, collaborate on the development and integration of Secondary and Primary Curricula on Nuclear Radiation [weapon AND supposedy benign energy], American Supremacist ideology/Fascistic “exceptionalism”, and Japan living with the aftermath of the American atrocity.
have your say