Having already charmed everyone throughout awards season this year, Cillian Murphy kept the momentum going at this year’s Baftas.
On Sunday night, the Irish actor picked up his first ever Bafta for his leading performance in the historical epic Oppenheimer.
After hugging collaborators Christopher Nolan and Emily Blunt, the Peaky Blinders star made his way onto the stage, where he began his speech with a very wholesome: “Oh boy… holy moly…”
Cillian went on to thank “the most dynamic, decent, kindest producer-director partnership in Hollywood, Chris Nolan and Emma Thomas” for “seeing something in me that I probably didn’t see in myself”.
After a series of thank yous, Cillian then turned his attention to his “fellow nominees” and fellow Oppenheimer co-stars, who he branded his “Oppen-homies’.
Incredible.
“All of you in the room, I know it’s a cliché to say that I am in awe of you but I actually genuinely am in awe,” he added.
“[J Robert] Oppenheimer was this colossally knotty, complex character, and he meant different things to different people. And one man’s monster is another man’s hero. And that’s why I love movies – because we have a space to celebrate and interrogate and investigate that complexity. It’s a privilege to be part of this community with you all.”
Cillian then wrapped up his speech with a shout-out to his wife Yvonne and their teenage sons Malachy and Aran, telling his family: “You’re my best friends and I love you so much.”
With wins at almost all of the major awards shows this year, Cillian is now a firm favourite to pick up the Best Actor awards at the Oscars next month, where he’s been nominated alongside Bradley Cooper, Colman Domingo, Paul Giamatti and Jeffrey Wright for their performances in Maestro, Rustin, The Holdovers and American Fiction, respectively.