And the Academy Award for Best Actor award goes too… Cillian Murphy! Murphy won the Oscar at the 96th Academy Awards for his role as the theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan’s biopic Oppenheimer.

Murphy was introduced by Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley, in a format that saw previous award winners in the same category introducing this year’s nominees.

This was Murphy’s first Oscar nomination and win, and he bested strong competitors like Bradley Cooper (Maestro), Colman Domingo (Rustin), Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers) and Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction).

The “very proud” Irish man (he is the first Irish-born actor to win an Academy Award) dedicated his win to “all the peacemakers” in the world saying, “we made a film about the man who created the atomic bomb and for better or for worse we are all living in Oppenheimer’s world, so I would like to dedicate this award to all the peacemakers everywhere”.

Oppenheimer is Murphy’s sixth collaboration with director Christopher Nolan in a partnership running for 20 years, starting with his role as the Scarecrow in Batman Begins in 2005, but it was his first role as a leading man in a Nolan film.

In his acceptance speech, Murphy thanked Nolan and producer Emma Thomas for taking him on the “wildest, most exhilarating, most creatively satisfying journey over the last twenty years”.

While Oppenheimer boasts of a stellar supporting cast — Robert Downey Jr. (who also won the best actor in a supporting role category for the film), Emily Blunt and Matt Damon — the success of the film depended on Murphy’s ability to portray on screen the role of a complex and layered man, a task he delivered exceptionally.

While this was his first nomination, Murphy was a favourite for the Oscars after bagging trophies for his role at the BAFTAs, SAG Awards and the Golden Globes.