Last year was indeed a great year for cinema as evident in the Barbie and Oppenheimer craze that swept the world like a storm. Theater and movie businesses also finally rose from the setbacks of the pandemic, and actors went back to work after the strike.
The Barbenheimer trend seemingly drowned a lot of good releases, at least on social media, but there were indeed excellent films across all genres that graced the big screens. Surprisingly, Cillian Murphy, who stars in Oppenheimer, does not consider Margot Robbie’s Barbie a top choice.
Did Cillian Murphy Forget To Mention Barbie As One Of His Favorites?
During his interview with ExtraTV, Irish actor Cillian Murphy revealed the films from last year that he considered top-notch. Apart from Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, he loved Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things and Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers.
“I loved Poor Things. I love that movie. I love The Holdovers. It’s a great year for cinema. There were so many, too many to mention, but those two stood out for me.”
Amid the popularity of Margot Robbie’s Barbie and its competition against Murphy’s biopic movie, the actor seemingly forgot to mention the film despite his willingness to star in it in a possible sequel. The Peaky Blinders star notably said via Omeleteve:
“Would I play a Ken in ‘Barbie 2’? Sure, yeah. Let’s read the script, let’s have a conversation. I can’t wait to see it. I think it’s great for cinema to get all these great movies happening this summer.”
During his conversation with Robbie via Variety’s Actors on Actors, he mentioned that the success of Barbie and Oppenheimer was not only brought by the hype of fans but also because they were indeed top-quality projects.
“And I think it happened because both movies were good. In fact, that summer, there was a huge diversity of stuff in the cinema, and I think it just connected in a way that you or I or the studios or anybody could never have predicted.”
It is quite sad that Murphy did not mention Barbie at all in his top favorite films of 2023, even though he previously said that he would be watching it on the same day as Oppenheimer’s premiere.
Cillian Murphy Professed His Love For Barbie In Earlier Interviews
Cillian Murphy also gushed about Greta Gerwig’s Barbie during his interview with IGN. He remarked how awesome it was for Oppenheimer to coincide with Barbie’s release date.
“I think it’s great. I mean, I’ll be going to see Barbie. I can’t wait to see it. I think it’s just great for the industry and for audiences that we have two amazing films by amazing filmmakers coming out the same day. Could spend a whole day in the cinema, what’s better than that?”
The actor has raved about the film numerous times in the past, and even fans were dismayed after he failed to mention Barbie as part of his top movies of 2023. Either it was just a marketing stunt to hype up the audience, or it genuinely slipped the actor’s mind during the interview, fans can only speculate.
