Cillian Murphy wins IFTA for Lead Actor
Cillian Murphy has won the Lead Actor award at the Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTAs) for his performance in Christopher Nolan's blockbuster "Oppen‐ heimer".
Generally seen as the last big night of the awards season, the IFTAs took place in Dublin's Royal Convention Centre on Sunday night, with crime series "Kin" taking home ve awards.
"Lies We Tell" star Agnes O' Casey took home the Lead Actress award on Satur‐ day, with Paul Mescal winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance in "All of Us Strangers".
In the Lead Actor category, Murphy beat off stiff competition from Barry Keoghan (Saltburn), Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers), Barry Ward (That They May Face), David Wilmot (Lies We Tell), and Pierce Brosnan (The Last Rifl eman). "I'm still so brutal at this," Murphy said in his acceptance speech.
"There are so many people here I ad‐ mire... It made me think of being here and being a young actor and getting so much encouragement from so many people... a lot of love and encourage‐ ment.
"People call it showbusiness but it feels like a community when it's done well." "Kin" took home awards on Saturday night, including Best Drama and Best Actress in a Drama for Clare Keegan. "I am absolutely buzzing," Keegan said on Saturday. "I genuinely did not expect to win, I really didn’t because everyone else was phenomenal in their roles. I am de‐ lighted."
"Kin" director Kate Dolan also took home the award for Best Director - Drama. Meanwhile, Irish director Neil Jordan presented actor Stephen Rea with an IF‐ TA Lifetime Achievement Award on Sat‐ urday night.
"This is a most prestigious award, if it had happened a little bit later, it might have been a posthumous award," Rea said on Saturday.
In a video montage played on Saturday night, Cillian Murphy described Rea as "one of the greatest people I know", while Jessie Buckley called him a "beau‐ tiful, poetic man".
Siobhán Cullen won the Rising Star award for her performance in "Obituary", a dark comedy set in a small Irish town, while Oppenheimer took home the award for Best International Film.