Cillian Murphy bags top gong at Screen Actors Guild Awards

CORK star Cillian Murphy picked up the Best Actor in a Motion Picture gong for his role in Oppenheimer during the Screen Actors Guild (Sag) Awards, while the film won Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

Christopher Nolan’s biopic, in which Murphy plays theoretical physicist J Robert Oppenheimer — described as the father of the atomic bomb — continued its awards season success during the 30th Sag Awards ceremony.

The event, held at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles, follows the longest strike in Sag-Aftra history and serves as a key Academy Award indicator ahead of the ceremony next month.

“28 years ago when I was trying to become an actor, I was a failed musician and I felt extremely like an interloper,” Murphy said. 

“Now, looking out at you guys here today, I know I am part of something truly wonderful — so thank you.”

Murphy also secured the top acting prize at the Bafta Awards following his success at the Golden Globes.

Oppenheimer co-star Robert Downey Jr appeared to acknowledge his Oscar front-runner status when collecting the prize for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his role as head of the Atomic Energy Commission Lewis Strauss.

He said: “Why me? Why now?”

The film was also presented with the award for Outstanding Performance by a cast in a Motion Picture, which Kenneth Branagh — who plays physicist Niels Bohr in the film — described as a “full circle moment” following the actors’ strikes.

“Thank you Sag-Aftra, thank you for fighting for us,” he said.

“Thank you for every Sag-Aftra member whose support and whose sacrifice allows us to be standing here, better than we were before.

“When we were all last together, it was at the premiere of this film on July 14 — when the strike was just about to begin, led by our fearless leader, the great Cillian Murphy. We went from the red carpet and we didn’t see the film that night. We happily went in the direction of solidarity with your good selves. So this is a full circle moment for us.”

Lily Gladstone was named Best Actress for her role as Mollie Burkhart in Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon, while Da’Vine Joy Randolph picked up the prize for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mary Lamb in The Holdovers.

“ I am so incredibly grateful to be considered among you,” Randolph said of her fellow nominees Emily Blunt, Penelope Cruz, Jodie Foster, and Danielle Brooks.