The actor won the Globe for his performance in 'Oppenheimer' during the 81st annual film and TV awards ceremony.
Cillian Murphy can add 2024 Golden Globe winner to his list of accolades and accomplishments. The actor scored the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for his performance in Openheimer.
On Sunday, Murphy accepted the award during the 81st annual awards show, beating out Bradley Cooper (Maestro), Leonardo DiCaprio (Killers of the Flower Moon), Colman Domingo (Rustin), Barry Keoghan (Saltburn), and Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers).
Murphy began his speech poking gentle fun at director Christopher Nolan, in a loving way, joking, "I knew the first time I walked on a Christopher Nolan set that it was different. I could tell by the level of rigor, the level of focus, the level of dedication, the complete lack of any seating options for actors, that I was in the hands of the visionary director and master."
"One of the most beautiful and vulnerable things about being an actor is that you can't do it on your own, really," Murphy continued. "We had the most incredible ensemble cast in this movie. It was magic and some of them are here today. Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Gary Oldman. Thank you for carrying me and holding me through this movie."
The celebrated actor concluded his speech thanking his reps, his team and his family, sharing, "I am the luckiest man and I love you. Thanks so much, guys!"
Murphy's portrayal of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the "father of the atomic bomb," in Christopher Nolan's epic was an intense undertaking.
The actor's traditionally intense visage is only made more dramatic by the sunken cheekbones and dour expression he wears as the theoretical physicist who led the Manhattan Project during World War II, who seemed to carry the literal weight of the world as he conducted experiments that could lead to the end of humanity.
"When Oppenheimer was running the Manhattan Project and they were doing their calculations, early on they saw the possibility that when they triggered the first atomic device, to test it, they might start a chain reaction that set fire to the atmosphere and destroyed the whole world," Nolan explained to ET ahead of the film's premiere.
"A small possibility, [but they] couldn't eliminate it completely through theory, and yet they went ahead and they pushed that button," he continued. "As a filmmaker, that's the kind of story you're looking to tell."
Despite the arduous undertaking, Murphy called the opportunity to play the theoretical physicist "a gift, a total gift."
"The extraordinary thing about the script was it's written in the first person, which is the first time I'd ever encountered that," Murphy shared of his first impression. "You realize then this is something different. They made this very clever thing in the movie -- the Oppenheimer sequences are in color, and then the Strauss sequences are in black and white. So it's kind of subjective-objective, and that's just amazing."
Co-star Robert Downey Jr. referred to Murphy's performance in the film as a "heroic effort," but the actor humbly attributed his portrayal to the "safe environment" Nolan created for his actors on set.
"He creates this really kind of like a laboratory, where you can just try stuff out and he just lets you off," he explained. "And the other thing is, I was thinking about it, no scene ever gets left behind, do you know what I mean? No scene is less than another."
The film, which was based on the 2005 Oppenheimer biography, American Prometheus, by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, also stars Josh Hartnett, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh, Benny Safdie and Michael Angarano.
The actor was just one of several winners that were revealed live during the 2024 Golden Globes, which started airing on CBS and Paramount+ at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET on Sunday. The three-hour event taking place at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California was hosted by comedian and actor Jo Koy, while Amanda Seyfried, Angela Bassett, Gabriel Macht, George Lopez, Julia Garner, Justin Hartley, Michelle Yeoh, Patrick J. Adams and Will Ferrell were among the star-studded presenters.
The 2024 Golden Globes hosted by Jo Koy is on Sunday, Jan. 7, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBS and streams on Paramount+. Check out ETonline.com for complete Golden Globes coverage and the full list of winners.
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