During yesterday’s DGA awards ceremony, Christopher Nolan insinuated that Cillian Murphy was the “best actor of his generation”. This comes after Nolan had similar praise for Murphy ("one of the best actors of his generation”) in a recent Los Angeles Times interview.
I’ve never seen an actor with such a commitment to the truth. But I’d never had him as the lead, so it was a thrill to be able to call him and say, ‘This is the one’.
As impressive as he was in “Oppenheimer,” Murphy wouldn’t even crack my top 10. He’s a strong actor, but give me a break. As far as under-50 actors go, I’d put, in no particular order, Joaquin Phoenix, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Bradley Cooper, Tom Hardy, and Michael Fassbender ahead of Cillian Murphy.