An Oscars Feature by Brendan Corr
Cork-born Cillian Murphy must appear to many cinema-goers to have come out of virtually nowhere to land the lead role of theoretical physicist Robert J. Oppenheimer in one of highest-grossing Hollywood movies of recent years. Oppenheimer has reported a gross global box office of USD $958 million so far, an impressive return on the $100 million budget, especially for a biopic about a theoretical physicist.
Oppenheimer has been honoured with 13 Oscar nominations, including Cillian Murphy for Best Actor in a Leading Role. For this role, Murphy has already taken home the award for Best Male Lead Actor from the BAFTAs, the Dublin Film Critics Circle, the Golden Globe Awards, the Screen Actors Guild Awards and a seemingly endless list of awards from various international film festivals and critics’ associations.
Clearly Cillian Murphy is the front runner for the 2024 Oscar for Best Actor and a win would mark him as the first Irish-born winner for Best Actor. However, Cillian isn’t exactly a pioneer of Irish recognition at the Oscars. Prior to 2024, Irish men and women have been recognised with 97 nominations for 18 Oscar wins. This includes Daniel Day-Lewis with a record three Best Actor statuettes, but as he’s a London-born Irishman, he doesn’t quite make the cut as an Irish-born winner.
As a long-term admirer of Cillian Murphy’s performances, I have sometimes thought of him having some similarities to the epic performances we’ve seen from Daniel Day-Lewis. This is no doubt a brave call in the view of many but let me explain.
Both men have exhibited the ability to deliver incredibly transformative performances in roles playing both fictional and real historical persons. For my money, Day-Lewis was most mesmerising as the title character in Lincoln (2012), playing a complex and contradictory President Abraham Lincoln prior to and during the US Civil War. Having studied that period of American history in some depth, I was thoroughly convinced I was seeing and hearing the real Abraham Lincoln on the big screen.
I was convinced by not only by Day-Lewis’ transformed appearance, but also by his accent, the words uttered, the individual mannerisms and the overall existence of this much-revered giant of US history on a huge screen. I was seeing not only the wise, patient and determined President dealing with an excruciating national crisis, but also seeing the man himself in his private moments with his staff, family, allies and foes. Everything I’d seen and read before was being personified in a never-to-be-surpassed portrayal. Truly a transformation from a humble, skilful actor into a throughly convincing persona on the big screen.
In the same way, I’ve seen the same sort of transformational performance from Cillian Murphy. He first came onto my radar, and perhaps that of many Irish, for his portrayal of Cork-born Damien O’Donovan in The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006). In this performance we witness Murphy’s Damien as a perplexed Corkman with no interest in supporting the Irish in the War of Independence and the Civil War.
Instead of joining the fight, Damien was determined to further his medical career at a London hospital. However, after witnessing several atrocities committed by British forces against his friends and neighbours, the pacifist Damien changes his mind and reluctantly becomes an IRA guerrilla alongside his brother Teddy.
Damien’s pacifism and socialist ideals are quickly replaced by a gritty determination to inflict maximum casualties on all British forces and any Irish cooperating with them.
This hard-line attitude spills over for Damien after the War of Independence and we see him at odds with past allies, and his pragmatic brother Teddy. Damien has decided, along with many others, that the sacrifices made for independence must result in nothing other than the complete eradication of the British from all of Ireland and the creation of a socialist Republic for the entire island. The compromises required to obtain the Irish Free State are too much for Damien to accept. We’ve seen the fictional Damien as an amalgam of many Irish men and women of that time that shared this same uncompromising position. Quite a transformation from the quiet pacifist medical graduate at the start of the story – but what an insight into the mindset of many Irish in 1920-23.
With the benefit of hindsight, we can truly see the genius of Director Christopher Nolan’s casting of Murphy as Oppenheimer. Nolan had of course many opportunities and much time to observe, experience and coach Murphy. Prior to Oppenheimer, Murphy had appeared in five Nolan films, since 2005. All of these were supporting roles, including an uncredited part as a shivering soldier in Dunkirk (2017).
Clearly Nolan could see something in Murphy to award him this massive lead role in a high-profile, high-budget biopic. The first achievement for the demure Murphy shedding at least 10kg from his already modest 70kg frame. Whilst this weight loss helped Murphy to physical better-resemble the appearance of the famously emaciated Oppenheimer, it’s a sacrifice that Murphy has since vowed never to attempt again.
Again, as a well-informed student of this traumatic of period of American history, I’ve seen still photos, film and heard the voice of Robert J. Oppenheimer many times. Clearly Murphy has poured over every frame, every image and every recording available in order to transform himself into this most amazingly complex and important figure of world history.
Not dissimilar to Day-Lewis as Lincoln, we see Murphy show us Oppenheimer via big and small gestures, the tip of his hat, the near constant handling of a tobacco pipe and the occasional twinkle of his eye.
To state that Oppenheimer was complex, contradictory and conflicted is akin to stating that water is wet, and ice is cold. Such a statement is not even touching the surface, let alone scratching it.
Throughout Oppenheimer, we learn that Robert was at times a failing student, horribly introverted and shy around women. He’s clearly very clever, whilst he’s a science student who can’t perform the most rudimentary of practical experiments. His mathematical abilities are often quite questionable. Robert is a pacifist who is proudly American, yet he attempts to poison one of his lecturers during his unsuccessful time at Cambridge. He’s curious about the union movement, socialism and communism whilst being a proud American from a wealthy industrious immigrant family. He’s not a religious man, yet he’s deeply proud of his Jewish roots. He’s a disorganised young man who is deemed by his peers to be ‘unable to run a lemonade stand’, yet he becomes the leader of the most monumental science and manufacturing project in world history. Robert is a nerdy academic with his head in textbooks, but also an accomplished horse-riding outdoorsman.
Murphy’s portrayal during Oppenheimer’s 180 minutes allows us to see the transformation of the man in both his professional and private life.
The once-shy, reserved and inexperienced Oppenheimer has now become quite the ladies man. We witness through Murphy’s performance how Oppenheimer became so irresistibly appealing to many women who entered his circle.
We get, through Murphy, to see Oppenheimer the man display and defend his contradictions. The most obvious conflict is his determined lead role in the race to develop the first nuclear bombs, whilst also harbouring deeply humanitarian pacifist views. Murphy’s gentle and measured performance allows to witness and understand the complexities of Robert’s competing positions and responsibilities. We’re able to witness both a living, breathing documentary of the events leading to the first successful nuclear detonation whilst also seeing the vulnerabilities, faults and virtues of the man who made it happen.
The movie not only details Oppenheimer’s life before and during the Manhattan Project, but also his opposition to nuclear proliferation after the end of World War II, and then the subsequent US Atomic Energy Commission’s enquiry into Oppenheimer’s fitness to retain his US military Security Clearance.
Murphy continues to portray a complex and contradictory man to great effect, so much so that it’s easy to feel compassion for the persecuted Oppenheimer, whilst also understanding the hard line being taken by government representatives, and the perceived betrayal by Robert’s past colleagues.
If you’ve not seen Oppenheimer yet, or even if you have, I urge you to get in front of a screen to see a masterpiece of filmmaking with a mesmerising, transformative Irish actor supported by a deep and rich supporting cast.
Whether Murphy wins the 2024 Oscar or not, he is truly recognised by his peers and the entertainment industry for his immense talent. He may never equal Day-Lewis’ triple Oscar achievement but he has already complimented the Irish achievements in the film and television industry. No doubt we’ll be seeing a lot more of Murphy on screen in the coming decades.
One good omen for Murphy though. He departed Ireland a few days before the Oscars whilst torrential rain was flooding much of the island. He then arrived in LA, which has been in drought conditions for several years, whilst a rare southern Californian downpour was in progress. He could truly be able to claim that he brought much-needed rain with him from the Emerald Isle.
Cillian Murphy, aged 47, was born in Cork in May 1976. He reportedly commenced writing and performing songs since the age of ten. He’s been acting professionally for 27 years, living in London with his family from 2001 before returning to live in Ireland (Dublin, then Cork) since 2015.
Brendan Corr
Brendan was conceived in Ireland and born in Melbourne soon after his Kilkenny/Monaghan parents arrived in 1968. Brendan was reared and educated in Melbourne, enjoyed a successful career in global finance and continues to live in Melbourne with his wife and young adult sons. Brendan is extremely proud of his Irish heritage and is well-versed in its music, literature, history and cinema. He plans to start spending more time in Ireland, and has recently commenced a study of Irish Gaelic.
Tinteán 