Cillian Murphy became the first Irish-born actor to win the Oscar for Best Actor at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday, 10 March. The Cork actor picked up the award for his leading role in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, a biopic about atomic bomb inventor, J. Robert Oppenheimer. It was a global hit and raked in global box-office takings $174m. “I’m a little bit overwhelmed,” said Murphy in his acceptance speech.
He thanked Christopher Nolan along with “every single crew member, every single cast member — you carried me through”. The actor also thanked his parents, Brendan and Mary, his wife Yvonne McGuinness and his sons, Malachy and Aran. Murphy paid tribute to his fellow nominees which included Paul Giamatti, Bradley Cooper, Colman Domingo and Jeffrey Wright.
