Cillian Murphy has offered his thoughts on the surge of Irish nominees throughout the entertainment industry's top award shows in recent years.
"I think part of it is coincidence, and I think part of it is that Irish people tell stories very well, just in the pub to each other," Murphy recently told BBC's culture and media editor Katie Razzall.
"We're good at it. We have a long history of it.
"We're comfortable with stories, with songs, with poetry. These things are just kind of second nature to us.
"But it is kind of phenomenal the level of talent that the country is producing. For like five million people, it's kind of extraordinary."
Indeed, during this award season, Murphy was nominated alongside Barry Keoghan ("Saltburn") and Andrew Scott ("All Of Us Strangers") in the Best Actor category at the Golden Globes, meaning Irish talent made up 50% of the category's nominees. (Murphy won.)
Last year, the Oscars had a similarly large Irish contingent with nominations for Irish productions "The Banshees of Inisherin" and "The Quiet Girl," while Irish actor Paul Mescal was nominated in the Best Actor category. And in one of the most viral moments of the 2023 Oscars, "An Irish Goodbye" scooped the Best Short Film (Live Action) Oscar.
Murphy was speaking with BBC just over a month out from the 95th Academy Awards, where he's nominated for his lead role as J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan's summer blockbuster "Oppenheimer."
The film landed 13 Oscar nominations, more than any other movie this year.
Experts are predicting that it will be either Murphy or Paul Giamatti ("The Holdovers") who takes home the Best Actor prize, while Bradley Cooper ("Maestro"), Colman Domingo ("Rustin"), and Jeffrey Wright ("American Fiction") are also nominated.
It's the Cork actor's first-ever acting Oscar nomination and despite the hype, Murphy remains calm, cool, and collected.
"I genuinely don't think about that," Murphy said about all the conversation about who will ultimately win.
"It's kind of wasted energy. I just feel so thrilled and humbled to be [mentioned] in the same breath as all those wonderful actors."
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