Cillian plays a blinder at the IFTA Awards
Cork actor Cillian Murphy won an IFTA for his role as Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders.
CORK’S Cillian Murphy scooped an IFTA award last night for his role in the blockbuster drama Peaky Blinders.
Murphy won the IFTA for Best Actor in a Leading Role in the Drama category at a star-studded bash in Dublin.
In the movie categories, Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan won Best Actress for her performance in Lady Bird, with John Connors winning Best Actor for Cardboard Gangsters.
Celebrating the best in Irish film and television, the event was hosted by actress Deirdre O’Kane, while President Michael D. Higgins presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to actor and director Gabriel Byrne.
Byrne has starred in acclaimed films such as Miller’s Crossing and The Usual Suspects. Speaking about the award, he said:
“It’s meaningful to me because it’s for a body of work. But when I think about it, I think about the opportunities that I’ve had and how lucky I’ve been to be able to work abroad and have the choices to do various things.
“But more than that, to me, it’s about my life, the life that I’ve led. That’s more important to me. I look at the work and I say, ‘Yes that’s wonderful’ but it’s the life, and this makes you look back and say ‘Oh, if I hadn’t taken that first jump, where would I be now?’.”
“So I’m glad I took that jump even though it was scary at the time, I’m glad I did it.”
