Cillian Murphy marks Oscar nod with cake, while Poor Things producers celebrate 'mind-blowing' success
In Cillian 'oppenheimer' Murphy
Actor Cillian Murphy has received an Oscar nomination for his role in — and learned about the accolade while staying at his childhood home in Cork.
Murphy, 47, was nominated for his role as J Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan’s drama about the father of the atomic bomb.
It is Murphy's first Oscar nomination and the first Academy Award nod for the Rebel County.
He is currently in Cork and told US publication he celebrated with a slice of his mam's sponge cake at his family home in a southside suburb.
“Thankfully, I live in a time zone that I don’t have to get up at 5am,” he said, referencing the early-morning announcement in the US.
The nominations were revealed at 1.30pm Irish time.
“It was already organised for me. We’ve had a few days off and I’ve been at home, which has been very, very pleasant.
"I’m actually in my parents’ house in Cork city. I was with my parents and my wife today. So that was really nice.”
He added they celebrated the nomination with some homemade treats.
“We had a cup of tea and a slice of cake. It was quite nice. My mom made a sponge cake. It was very tasty.”
Murphy added that he was "honoured and kind of overwhelmed" by the reaction to the film, telling that he will be bringing his wife and sons to the Oscars in March.
Director and producer Christopher Nolan hailed Murphy's work.
Speaking to , he described the Corkman as "thrilling".
Murphy is not the only Irish person celebrating.
While there was disappointment for Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal, who both missed out on nominations for , and Barry Keoghan, who was in the running for , Dublin-based Element Pictures was among the most celebrated production companies.
Element Pictures co-produced , the latest film from Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos, which counts Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo among its stars.
claimed 11 nominations in total, the second-highest of any film in the running, only beaten out by .
Among its nominations are Best Film, Best Actress for Emma Stone, and Best Cinematography.
Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe, founders of Element Pictures, described themselves as "thrilled" with ' 11 Oscar nominations, which they said is a record number for an Irish-produced film.
In a statement, the producers said: "This is a phenomenal achievement for Yorgos [Lanthimos], Emma [Stone], and our incredible cast and crew of the film, including of course Irish cinematographer Robbie Ryan.
"It's also a huge tribute to all of the Element Pictures team in Dublin, Belfast, and London who have been across every detail of this production from its inception to its worldwide release.
"We are also very grateful to the amazing team at Film4 and to our brilliant distributors Searchlight."
Element Productions has already won two Golden Globes and scored 11 nominations at the Baftas for its previous productions.
Tuesday's announcement brings to 26 the number of Academy Award nominations, as well as two Academy Awards, received by Element Pictures since it was established in 2001.
Paula Heffernan, head of production at Element Pictures, described the nominations as "mind-blowing".
Speaking to on RTÉ Radio 1, she said: "It was wonderful as they were all being announced just to breathe a sigh of relief after each one and celebrate, and think, 'Wow, we’re actually getting them all!'
"It’s quite mind-blowing actually — we’re still in a state of shock, but very happy shock," she said.
Ms Heffernan also said the film was "huge in scale", unlike the previous productions undertaken by Element.