'All of Cork is very proud of him': Tributes paid to Cork’s Oscar winner Cillian Murphy

Tributes have been paid to Ballintemple man Cillian Murphy as Cork wakes up to the news that he has won the Best Actor award at the Oscars for his starring role in Christopher Nolan’s biopic Oppenheimer.

Murphy, who played the title role of J Robert Oppenheimer – the American physicist who helped develop the atomic bomb – was named best actor at the awards held in Los Angeles last night and is the first Irish winner of this award.

The actor had already won a Golden Globe, a Bafta and a Screen Actors Guild award for his starring turn as theoretical physicist J Robert Oppenheimer in the biopic about the father of the atomic bomb.

President of Ireland Michael D Higgins congratulated Mr Murphy on his “wonderful achievement” and acknowledged his appropriate dedication to peacemakers everywhere.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin also congratulated the fellow Cork man on his “richly deserved” win, saying he is “absolutely thrilled and delighted” for him and his family.

In a video message from outside Mr Murphy’s former primary school St Anthony’s Boys National School in Ballinlough, Mr Martin said: “It was an outstanding performance in an outstanding film that will stand the test of time. All at St Anthony’s Boys School are particularly thrilled, his alma mater, of course, at Leeside in Cork.

“Delighted for him and his wonderful family and the nation as a whole all rejoice in a well deserved Oscar award for Cillian Murphy.” 

Also paying tribute to Mr Murphy this morning, Lord Mayor of Cork Councillor Kieran McCarthy said that the whole of Cork is very proud of him.

“Major congrats to Cillian on his first Oscar!! All of Cork is very proud of him, and I look forward to honouring him in City Hall in the not-so-distant future. Cillian remains grounded and humble but is a huge inspiration for all involved in Irish arts,” he posted on social media.

Born in Cork in 1976, Mr Murphy’s breakthrough role came in 2002 with the Danny Boyle film 28 Days Later.

He showed his darker side as a domestic terrorist in the 2005 thriller Red Eye, and also had turns in Breakfast On Pluto, the Irish war drama The Wind That Shakes The Barley and science fiction thriller Sunshine, which reunited him with Boyle.

He first collaborated with director Christopher Nolan in 2005, as Scarecrow in Batman Begins, a role he reprised in The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.

He also appeared in Nolan’s films Inception and Dunkirk but it is his work with the director on Oppenheimer that has brought him the most critical acclaim.

Oppenheimer is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph And Tragedy Of J Robert Oppenheimer, written by Kai Bird and Martin J Sherwin.

The film chronicles his studies, his career, his direction of the Manhattan Project during the Second World War, and his eventual fall from grace after his 1954 security hearing.

Oppenheimer was the big winner on the night, scooping seven awards in total, including best actor for Cillian Murphy, best picture, best supporting actor for Robert Downey Jr, as well as best director for Christopher Nolan, plus film editing, cinematography and original score.