Cillian Murphy favourite for Best Actor Oscar
Stephen O’Leary
Cork actor Cillian Murphy is favourite to take home the Oscar for Best Actor for his stellar performance in 2023 summer blockbuster ‘Oppenheimer’.
Murphy’s portrayal of the titular theoretical physicist and ‘father of the atomic bomb’ J. Robert Oppenheimer has received widespread acclaim. It has already seen him win the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, and earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Nominees were announced for the 96th Academy Awards on Tuesday. 47 year old Murphy received his first nod, along with Paul Giamatti (‘The Holdovers’), who won at the Critics’ Choice Awards, and Bradley Cooper (‘Maestro’). Colman Domingo (‘Rustin’) and Jeffrey Wright ('American Fiction’) will also be in contention at the March ceremony.
Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe, of Irish production company Elemental Pictures, are up for the Best Picture Award for ‘Poor Things’ – one of 11 nominations for the Yorgos Lanthimos-directed film. Only Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ received more, with 13.
Missing out on nominations are fellow Irish actors Andrew Scott (‘All Of Us Strangers’) and Barry Keoghan (‘Saltburn’), who were both shortlisted in Murphy’s Golden Globes category.
Ballintemple native Murphy earned his acting chops with Corcadorca Theatre Company, first encountering the group while still attending Presentation Brothers College. His breakout film role came in 2002 with Danny Boyle’s horror, ’28 Days Later’.
Murphy first worked with writer-director Christopher Nolan in 2005’s ‘Batman Begins’ as supervillain Scarecrow, and returned for its two sequels. The pair also collaborated for 2010 science fiction thriller ‘Inception’, and 2017 war epic ‘Dunkirk’.
On accepting his recent Golden Globe award, Murphy praised the filmmaker: “I knew the first time I walked on a Chris Nolan set that it was different. I could tell by the level of rigour, the level of focus, the level of dedication – the complete lack of any seating options for actors! – that I was in the hands of a visionary director, a master.”
In 2006, Murphy starred in ‘The Wind that Shakes the Barley’, a drama set around the Irish War of Independence. The film won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and earned the actor a nomination for BAFTA’s Rising Star Award.
Murphy gained further plaudits for his leading role as Thomas Shelby in period crime-drama ‘Peaky Blinders’. The BBC series ran from 2013 to 2022, and currently has a feature film in production.
The father of two has stuck close to his theatre roots throughout his career, with roles including a production of John Millington Synge classic, ‘The Playboy of the Western World’, and Enda Walsh-penned one-man-show, ‘Misterman’.
He has campaigned for homeless people with Focus Ireland, and in 2011, he became a patron of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre in Galway.
Closer to home, Murphy established Sounds From A Safe Harbour in 2015 with Mary Hickson, Enda Walsh, and Aaron and Bryce Dessner. The biennial festival showcases music, dance, art, and conversation across Cork city.
In spite of his achievements, Murphy has always maintained his privacy, preferring to stay away from the celebrity scene.
He took the opportunity of his Golden Globe win to praise his supporting cast: “One of the most beautiful and vulnerable things about being an actor is that you can’t do it on your own. We had the most incredible ensemble cast – thank you for carrying me and holding me through this movie.”
As humble as the Corkman remains, few could deny his talents make him a deserving favourite for the highest accolade in acting.