LAST UPDATE | 8 Jan 2024

IRISH ACTOR CILLIAN Murphy has won a Golden Globe award for best performance by a male actor for his leading role in the film Oppenheimer.

The Christopher Nolan film won big at the event last night, taking home five awards in total for best director, best supporting actor, best original score, best film and Murphy’s best actor award.

Accepting the award, Murphy said he knew the making of the film would be different the first time he walked onto Nolan’s set.

Murphy said: “I could tell by the level of rigor, the level of focus, the level of dedication and the complete lack of any seating options for actors.”

He added that he was at the hands of a “master” and thanked Nolan and producer Emma Thomas and the rest of the cast. 

Murphy said: “One of the most beautiful and vulnerable things about being an actor is that you can’t do it on your own. We had the most incredible ensemble cast in this movie.”

He named fellow-stars such as Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr, Matt Damon and Gary Oldman from the crowd and thanked them for “carrying me and pulling me through this movie”.

Earlier in the night, Downey Jr had won the best supporting actor award for this role in the film, which grossed in the region of €871 million at the worldwide box office.

Finishing his speech, Murphy said that his fellow nominees – “Irish or not” – were “all legends” and thanked his agency teams.

Irish actors Andrew Scott and Barry Keoghan were also nominated for Best Actors for their performances in All of Us Strangers and Saltburn, respectively.

Elsewhere, Oppenheimer’s fellow-box office buster Barbie won the cinematic and box office achievement award and the best original song award, for Billie Eilish and Finneas’ ‘What Was I Made For?’

Da’Vine Joy Randolph won the Best Actress award last night for her performance in drama The Holdovers. 

Poor Things, co-produced by Ireland’s Element Pictures, also won two Golden Globes including Best Comedy or Musical film – beating competitor Barbie for the award.

Irish producers Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe as well as Irish cinematographer Robbie Ryan were involved in the making of the film. Emma Stone, who starred in the lead role, won a best comedy or musical actress award for her performance in the film.

Speaking to RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland Guiney said: “We are really, really delighted. People are saying this one of the best years for movies in a long time.

“We were up against Barbie, that’s an absolute juggernaut. So we’re really thrilled to win. We were hoping for it, but not really expecting it,” he added.

Media minister Catherine Martin congratulated Murphy on his award this morning, adding it was a “well-deserved recognition of the immense talent of Cillian Murphy”.

She also congratulated Barry Keoghan, Andrew Scott and the producers of Poor Things.

Martin said: “2023 was a hugely successful year for Irish film production and Irish talent. I hope this Golden Globe award is a portent for further success and acclaim for the large pool of talent existing in the Irish film industry.”

She added that the increase in tax credits – from €70m to €125m – hopes to entice more productions to Ireland.