AS FAR as the director was concerned there was only one person for the job - a slender Irishman with ice-blue eyes and a penchant for throwing himself into every role he's had with single-minded focus.
And has it ever paid off. Cillian Murphy has been the runaway star of this year's award season, pocketing every best actor gong going - including the big daddy of them all, the Oscar.
"I'm a very proud Irishman standing here tonight," said Cillian, who was also the first Irishman to win a best actor Oscar.
The 47-year-old made Hollywood's sparkliest night a family affair, walking the red carpet with his wife, visual artist Yvonne McGuinness, and watched by their sons, Malachy (18) and Aran (16), in the audience.
"I love you all so much," he said during his emotional acceptance speech.
After his tour de force in Oppenheimer, which cleaned up at the Academy Awards and was one of 2023's biggest box-office earners, the industry loves him too. But it's Christopher Nolan, the brains behind the movie and the winner of the best director Oscar, who probably loves him the most.
Cillian has appeared in six of the British filmmaker's movies, stretching back to 2005's Batman Begins, where he played the terrifying villain Dr Crane/Scarecrow opposite Christian Bale's Batman.
The Irish actor went on to appear in the next two Dark Knight movies as well as 2010's Inception and Christopher's critically acclaimed World War 2 drama, Dunkirk.
However, he'd always been waiting in the wings for a leading role - and when Christopher called to offer him the role of J Robert Oppenheimer, the tortured father of the atomic bomb, he hung up the phone in disbelief.
"I've always said to Chris that if I'm available and if he wants me to be in a movie, I'm there. I don't really care about the size of the part," he told Associated Press.
"But deep down, secretly, I was desperate to play a lead for him."
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der 21 March 2024-Ausgabe von YOU South Africa.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der 21 March 2024-Ausgabe von YOU South Africa.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
BALLON IN THE BAG
Manchester City midfielder Rodrigo Hernandez Cascante says his Ballon d'Or win is a victory for Spanish football
IT WAS ALL A LIE
A new doccie exposes the Grey's Anatomy writer who fabricated her life story
'I WILL NEVER GIVE UP'
After her husband, anticorruption activist Alexei Navalny, was poisoned and murdered by the Kremlin, she became the public face of Russia's opposition. In this candid interview Yulia Navalnaya opens up about life on the run, her perilous family life and why she's continuing her husband's fight to save their country
AGREE TO DISAGREE
Trevor Noah on how his childhood squabbles with his mother inspired his delightful new book
PAUSE THE CLOCK
Researchers have discovered that the ageing process spikes at 44 and 60. Here's what you can do to slow it down
MPOOMY ON TOP
We chat to SA's most popular female podcaster about love, loss and her booming success
MY BROTHER IS NOT TO BLAME
Tinus Drotské says his sibling, ex Bok Nǎka, is the victim in the brawl with a neighbour that landed up in court
MATT THE RECLUSE
A year after his friend's tragic death, the actor continues to shun the spotlight
A LEAP OF FAITH
After her husband tried to kill her by tampering with her parachute she thought she'd never trust a man again-but now she's found love
THEY'RE MY KIDS!
This West Coast woman treats her monkeys as iftheyre humans and animal activists are not happy about it
