“I’m a very, very proud Irish man standing here tonight.”
The Irish didn’t have a lot of nominations at this year’s Academy Awards – but they walked away with one of their biggest wins ever.
And this time next year, Cillian Murphy may well be up for another Best Actor statue, for an upcoming film based on an Irish novel, by an Irish writer, about some of the darkest shadows in Ireland’s past.
But that’s next year. For now, let’s just celebrate Cillian Murphy’s historic win.
“I’m a very, very proud Irish man standing here tonight,” the Cork-born thespian said, after winning the award for his turn in Christopher Nolan’s epic Oppenheimer, about the creation of the atomic bomb
“For better or worse, we are living in Oppenheimer’s world,” Murphy added.
Another Irish winner at the Oscars was the production company Element Pictures, which has offices in Dublin and helped produce the Emma Stone film Poor Things.
But it was Murphy’s win – the first ever in the category for an Irish-born performer – that rightly got all the attention
This was the sixth movie Murphy did with acclaimed director Christopher Nolan – three Batman films, as well as Dunkirk and Inception. In a recent interview with JOE.ie, Nolan gushed about working with Murphy – and Irish talent in general.
“In this case, I got to call (Cillian Murphy) up and say, this is the one where you get to take center stage.”
Then Nolan was asked, “Would it fair to say you have a bit of a love for Irish actors?”
Stars from Barry Keoghan to Kenneth Branagh have appeared in Nolan films.
Nolan responded: “And many others I haven’t had the chance to work with yet. Absolutely.”
One of Murphy’s next big projects is a movie based on Claire Keegan’s celebrated short novel Small Things Like These. It premiered in February at the Berlin Film Festival, and stars Murphy as a humble coal seller who stumbles upon what may be a terrible secret in his village.
The film also stars Eileen Walsh, Emily Watson, and Claire Dunne, with a screenplay written by playwright Enda Walsh.
Given the seriousness of the subject – and the quality of the talent and source material – it’s a good bet Cillian Murphy may be back at the Oscars in 2025. ♦
Ireland is full of incredible talent: actors, writers, musicians and of course scholars. It’s so satisfying to see recognition in the arts by the wider world. Well done to Cillian Murphy and for me he’s more famous than Roy Keane! And no offense to Roy!