Summary
- Oppenheimer's multiple Oscar wins put lead actor Cillian Murphy in an exclusive actor club that should be easier to get into.
- Only five other biopics have won Best Picture and Best Actor at the Academy Awards prior to Oppenheimer.
- With biopics often winning Best Picture, it should be more common that they also take home Best Actor trophies.
2024 Best Picture predictions suggested Oppenheimer would take home the gold in that category. And with a total of 13 nominations overall, it was expected to win multiple honors.
This proved an accurate analysis of Oppenheimer's chances, as the movie also collected another huge win at the 2024 Academy Awards: Best Actor. Murphy's performance as the father of the atomic bomb won over the Academy, giving Oppenheimer's lead his very first Oscar. This is worth celebrating on its own, but Oppenheimer's multi-Oscar success makes Murphy stand out for another impressive reason.
Oppenheimer Is Only The 6th Biopic To Win Best Picture & Best Actor
Oppenheimer is only the sixth biopic to win Oscars in both the Best Picture and Best Actor categories, marking impressive feats for Nolan's movie and Murphy as its lead. Although many biopics have received nominations in both categories, it's surprisingly rare to see a film take home awards for both. Of the 21 biopics to receive Best Picture (via Collider), five of them have managed it before Oppenheimer: Patton, A Man for All Seasons, Gandhi, Amadeus, and The King's Speech.
Best Picture Winner |
Release Year |
Best Actor Winner |
A Man for All Seasons |
1966 |
Paul Scofield |
Patton |
1970 |
George C. Scott |
Gandhi |
1982 |
Ben Kingsley |
Amadeus |
1984 |
F. Murray Abraham |
The King's Speech |
2010 |
Colin Firth |
This lineup also means that Oppenheimer is the first biopic to win both Best Picture and Best Actor in 14 years. That realization highlights how infrequently this combination occurs. It's a testament to Murphy's acting skills and Oppenheimer's impact on the film industry that they saw success on both fronts. Any concerns that Murphy would get snubbed can now be put to rest. However, it's a shame that so many other leading men in Best Picture-winning biopics haven't nabbed Best Actor at the Oscars.
Best Picture Biopics Winning Best Actor Shouldn't Be So Uncommon
It's exciting that Murphy's 2024 Oscars win lands him in a place only five actors have been before him. However, the stars of Best Picture biopics should probably be winning Best Actor more frequently. This phenomenon shouldn't be so uncommon that it's only happening every decade or two. If a biopic is acclaimed enough to snatch up a Best Picture win, there's a good chance its lead actor is contributing to its quality and overall success. Other biopic stars have put on performances just as powerful as Oppenheimer's cast. Some of them probably deserved Best Actor, and it's surprising more of them didn't win it.
Source: Collider
Oppenheimer
- Release Date
- July 21, 2023
- Runtime
- 150 Minutes
- Director
- Christopher Nolan
WHERE TO WATCH
Oppenheimer is a film by Christopher Nolan, which follows the theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man behind the atomic bomb. Cillian Murphy will play the titular role, with the story based on the book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.
- Writers
- Christopher Nolan
- Studio(s)
- Syncopy Inc., Atlas Entertainment
- Distributor(s)
- Universal Pictures
- Budget
- $100 Million
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