Cillian Murphy has been nominated for a best actor Oscar for his role in Oppenheimer - and he might win it thanks to a recent trend.
The Irish star has already scooped a clutch of awards for the role, including a Golden Globe, and now he’s in the running for the big one: an Oscar.
The movie, which centres on the life of US physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer - the man dubbed the ‘father of the atomic bomb’ - has received a whopping 13 nominations at this year’s Oscars, including the coveted best picture award, best director for Christopher Nolan, best supporting actor for Robert Downey Jr and a nomination for Murphy as best actor. Not too shabby, eh?
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In the category, Murphy faces competition from Bradley Cooper (Maestro), Colman Domingo (Rustin), Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers) and Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction).
Before the nominations were even announced, Murphy had been widely tipped to win the Oscar, with oddschecker.com putting him in first place with odds of just 2/5.
Not only that, but an interesting trend also supports the prospect of Murphy winning big on the night.
Nine of the last nine best actor Oscars have gone to stars who played real-life characters - like Murphy in Oppenheimer - meaning the 47-year-old could be perfectly placed to rack up another win.
However, two other actors in the category also played real-life characters - with Cooper playing US conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein, and Domingo playing Martin Luther King’s advisor Bayard Rustin.
As well as a Golden Globe, numerous critics choice awards in the bag and a potential Oscar pending Murphy is also up for a Screen Actors Guild award.
Accepting his Golden Globe, Murphy piled the praise on Oppenheimer director Nolan.
“I knew the first time I walked on a Chris Nolan set it was different,” he said.
“I could tell by the level of vigour, focus, the level of dedication and the complete lack of seating options for actors.”
He then paid tribute to their collaboration of ‘20 years and six fecking pictures’, before thanking his co-stars for ‘carrying me and holding me through this movie’.
Murphy also paid tribute to his fellow nominees, saying: “If you’re Irish or not, you’re all legends and I salute you.”
You can find out who will win for yourself when the Jimmy Kimmel hosts the Oscars on 10 March.
Topics: Oscars, Cillian Murphy
Claire Reid