Cillian Murphy described himself as a "really proud Irishman" after he won Best Actor at the BAFTA Film Awards in London.
He is the first Irish-born performer to win the film BAFTA for Best Actor.
Speaking backstage at the Royal Festival Hall, the Oppenheimer star said: "I'm a really, really proud Irishman. I have to say that, of course. And it means a lot to me to be Irish."
He joked: "I don't know what else to say. Should I sing a rebel song?"
Reflecting on his win, the Cork actor added: "It's a little overwhelming… it's kind of mind-blowing.
"I'm thrilled and a little shocked."
Murphy said people have stopped him on the street and told him they have watched Oppenheimer six or seven times.
"I think it's (the film) a great reflection on the state of cinema nowadays. You know that this is a very complex, very challenging three-hour R-rated movie about a physicist, about a very kind of dark period in our history, and people came to see it in huge numbers.
"People would meet me on the street and say that they've seen the film five, six, seven times, and boys and girls, men and women, young and old, and that's kind of staggering and again very humbling.
"But it's, like I said, a great reflection on the state of cinema and I think it's been a brilliant year for cinema."
Source: Press Association
