Cillian Murphy ‘Overwhelmed’ by First Oscar Win for ‘Oppenheimer’

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer won at the 96th annual Academy Awards—just minutes after lead Cillian Murphy picked up the award for Best Actor at the 96th annual Academy Awards for his lauded performance as the ambitious, infamous physicist.

While Best Picture may have overshadowed Murphy’s win a bit, his moving speech was a great penultimate moment for the show.

“I’m a little overwhelmed,” Murphy said as he accepted his award from last year’s Best Actor winner, Brendan Fraser (The Whale), at the Oscars on Sunday evening. “Thank you to the academy. Chris Nolan and Emma Thomas, it’s been the wildest, most exhilarating, most creatively satisfying journey you’ve taken me on over the past 20 years. I owe you more than I can say.”

Murphy won the award for starring as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, in Nolan’s three-hour blockbuster epic. Oppenheimer is also nominated for Best Picture and has picked up a number of awards like Best Supporting Actor and Best Director at the 2024 Oscar awards.

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“Every single crew member, every single cast member on Oppenheimer, you guys carried me through,” Murphy said. “All my fellow nominees, I remain in awe of you guys, truly.”

This win gives Murphy his very first Oscar. Along the 2023-24 awards path, Murphy has been going head-to-head with Paul Giamatti for his lead turn in The Holdovers. While Murphy picked up the award for Best Actor at the SAG and BAFTA Awards, Giamatti picked up a Critics Choice Award win earlier this year.

Murphy concluded, “I’m a very proud Irishman standing here tonight. We made a film about the man who created the atomic bomb and, for better or for worse, we’re all living in Oppenheimer's world. So I’d really like to dedicate this to the peacemakers everywhere.”

Murphy accepted the award from five of the former Best Actor winners, including Fraser, Ben Kingsley, Matthew McConaughey, Forest Whitaker, and Nicolas Cage. Kingsley was the former winner to announce Murphy’s nomination.

“[Cillian] accepted the leading role of Oppenheimer before even reading the script, which must’ve taken some courage and trust, also some chutzpah,” Kingsley announced with a laugh ahead of Murphy’s win. “Either way, the performance was masterful, endowing his character with layers of humanity, while he created something that was not.”

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Oppenheimer was up for 13 nominations at this year’s Oscars, the film with the most nods of 2024. Alongside Best Picture and Robert Downey, Jr.’s win for Best Supporting Actor, Oppenheimer also won Best Cinematography, Best Director, and Best Visual Effects.

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