Cillian Murphy admits he found glare of the spotlight 'challenging'

Cillian Murphy had the most insightful response when questioned about his chances of winning an Oscar next month.

In the film bearing his name, the 47-year-old actor plays Robert Oppenheimer, the "father of the nuclear bomb," and is nominated for Best Actor. Bradley Walsh, the star of Maestro, Jeffrey Wright in American Fiction, Paul Giamatti in The Holdovers, and Colman Domingo in Rustin are the opponents he will face off against.

The Peaky Blinders actor is widely predicted to win on Sunday, 10th March, and he has previously won a Golden Globe for the same film role. Despite this, Cillian said he is taking everything in stride.

When the Irish celebrity appeared with Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, she remarked, "You'd be an eejit not to enjoy it." When asked how he felt about being the most well-known actor in the industry at the moment—Oppenheimer has had no fewer than 13 Oscar nominations—Cillian said he had found the attention to be “challenging”.

The celebrity, who has been married to Yvonne McGuinness for 19 years and has two teenage kids, Malachy, 17, and Aran, 16, with her, is known for preferring to keep his personal life private. However, he has become more well-known than ever in recent years, particularly because of his role as Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders.

Speaking candidly about the impact that celebrity has had on his life, Cillian—who just returned to Ireland because he and Yvonne want their sons to grow up Irish—shared the following: “I have struggled with it in the past and, you know, it’s not something I’m ever totally at ease with. But I think you have to, like, choose to enjoy it. And I think that you can do that in your brain, just make that alteration and it’s easier then. I’ll have my wife and my kids with me, and that’s been lovely. Just go with it, that’s my attitude.”

Citing having his family around as “crucial” to feeling grounded, he added: “To have a really secure, solid base is important. It’s been really important for me to have that safe place. I think I certainly do, where it’s just like an island of comfort and ease.”