Cillian Murphy’s Oscar: quick facts
- When: 10 March 2024, at the 96th Academy Awards.
- The award: Best Actor, for playing J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.
- History made: the first Irish-born actor ever to win the Oscar for Best Actor.
- The clean sweep: he also won the Golden Globe, the BAFTA and the Screen Actors Guild award for the role.
On a March night in 2024, a quietly spoken actor from Cork walked onto the Oscars stage and made Irish history. It was a short speech, but one line went around the world in minutes: he was, he said, “a very proud Irishman standing here tonight.”
The speech
Cillian Murphy is famously private and famously modest, and his speech was exactly that: thoughtful, a little nervous and very brief. He thanked Christopher Nolan, his fellow cast and crew, and his family. Then he spoke about the film itself. They had made a film about the man who created the atomic bomb, he said, and we’re all living in Oppenheimer’s world, so he wanted to dedicate the award to peacemakers everywhere.
And then the line that had every Irish person cheering at home: he was a very proud Irishman standing there that night.
Who is Cillian Murphy?
Cillian Murphy was born in Douglas, Cork, in 1976. He nearly became a rock musician, playing in a band as a young man, before turning to acting on the Cork theatre scene. Films like 28 Days Later, The Wind That Shakes the Barley and Christopher Nolan’s Batman films made his name, and then Peaky Blinders, in which he played Tommy Shelby, made him a global star.
Oppenheimer was his sixth film with Nolan, and his first leading role for him. The performance swept the awards season, and Murphy became the first Irish-born actor to win the Best Actor Oscar.
Ireland’s big night
The 2024 Oscars were a big night for Ireland all round: Oppenheimer won seven awards, and Irish talent was nominated across several categories. But it was Cillian’s win, and his proud line about being Irish, that dominated the next day’s front pages back home.
He followed it with Small Things Like These, a much smaller Irish film based on Claire Keegan’s novel about the Magdalene laundries, which he also produced. Read more in our guide to the best Irish movies.
Cillian Murphy FAQ
Did Cillian Murphy win an Oscar?
Yes, Best Actor at the 2024 Academy Awards for Oppenheimer.
Is Cillian Murphy the first Irish actor to win Best Actor?
He is the first Irish-born actor to win the Oscar for Best Actor.
Where is Cillian Murphy from?
Douglas, Co. Cork.
What did Cillian Murphy say in his Oscar speech?
He dedicated the award to peacemakers everywhere and said he was a very proud Irishman.
More Irish stars
- Cillian Murphy’s Golden Globes speech
- Famous Irish actors
- How to pronounce Saoirse (Saoirse Ronan explains)
- The story behind Hozier’s Take Me to Church
Featured photo: Cillian Murphy in 2014, by Tim Cornbill, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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