Actor Cillian Murphy is continuing to win hearts with his larger-than-life film and TV roles — and he’s made a fan out of Pierce Brosnan.
While attending the annual Oscar Wilde Awards on Thursday, Brosnan told the BBC he thinks Murphy would make a great James Bond.
Brosnan, 70, famously played Agent 007 in four of the franchise’s films from 1995 to 2002. He is the fifth actor to play the martini-swilling English spy.
“Cillian would do a magnificent job as James Bond on His Majesty’s Secret Service,” Brosnan said of his fellow Irishman.
Murphy, 47, has long since been a fan favourite casting choice for Bond, and speculative rumours about the Peaky Blinders actor have swelled for several months now.
However, Murphy himself doesn’t seem too keen on the Bond pitch.
Murphy was also in attendance at the Oscar Wilde Awards this week. When asked by Hello Magazine if he’d heard the rumours about him playing Bond, the actor laughed off speculation and said he would not be the right choice for the character.
“I think I’m a bit old for that,” Murphy said. “I think that ship has sailed.”
At the Oscar Wilde Awards, which were held at JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions in Santa Monica, Calif., Brosnan was honoured for his contributions to cinema. The awards, organized by the US-Irish Alliance, are held to celebrate the work of Irish talent in Los Angeles.
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Murphy is widely expected to take home the coveted prize for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the 96th annual Academy Awards on Sunday. The Oscar would be a first for Murphy, who is nominated for his portrayal of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the “father of the atomic bomb,” in Christoper Nolan’s epic Oppenheimer.
Murphy will battle it out against Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers), Colman Domingo (Rustin), Bradley Cooper (Maestro) and Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction).
Even still, Murphy, who is notoriously private, doesn’t seem too concerned about the Oscars at all.
“I just want to go in and have a good time,” Murphy told the BBC.
Murphy has already won BAFTA, Golden Globe and SAG trophies for Oppenheimer.
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