Cillian
Murphy
came
away
with
his
first
Oscar
for
portraying
the
man
who
created
the
atomic
bomb
in
Christopher
Nolan's
blockbuster
biopic
“Oppenheimer.”
A
first-time
nominee,
Murphy
won
best
actor
for
his
stellar
role
as
J.
Robert
Oppenheimer.
The
film
tells
the
story
of
how
Oppenheimer
and
his
peers
at
Los
Alamos
would
test
the
bomb
on
July
16,
1945,
not
knowing
what
was
going
to
happen
—
and
the
ensuing
fallout.
Murphy
bested
Colman
Domingo
for
“Rustin,”
Bradley
Cooper
for
“Maestro,”
Paul
Giamatti
for
“The
Holdovers,”
and
Jeffrey
Wright
for
“American
Fiction.”
The
Irish
actor,
though
a
regular
presence
in
Nolan
films
going
back
almost
two
decades,
had
always
been
a
supporting
player.
This
time,
Nolan
wanted
him
to
lead.
“He's
so
understated
and
self-deprecating
and,
in
his
very
English
manner,
just
said,
Listen,
I've
written
this
script,
it's
about
Oppenheimer.
I'd
like
you
to
be
my
Oppenheimer,'”
Murphy,
47,
told
The
Associated
Press
last
year.
“It
was
a
great
day.”
For
Murphy,
he
knows
there
are
some
movies
he's
right
for
and
some
that
he
is
not.
“I
have
always
said
publicly
and
privately,
to
Chris,
that
if
I'm
available
and
you
want
me
to
be
in
a
movie,
I'm
there.
I
don't
really
care
about
the
size
of
the
part,”
he
said
last
year.
“But
deep
down,
secretly,
I
was
desperate
to
play
a
lead
for
him.”
Murphy
came
into
the
Academy
Awards
a
strong
contender
after
picking
up
trophies
at
the
Golden
Globes,
SAG
Awards
and
BAFTA
Film
Awards.
(AP)
RDS
RDS