Sam Neill Sips Bloody Marys with 'Pal' Cillian Murphy to Celebrate His Oscar Win: 'So Well Deserved'

"We had a great catch up. And a Bloody Mary. Or two," Neill quipped in his Instagram caption of himself and newly minted Oscar winner Murphy

Sam Neill Sips Bloody Marys with 'Pal' Cillian Murphy to Celebrate His Oscar Win
Cillian Murphy and Sam Neill. Photo:

Sam Neill/Instagram

Sam Neill is applauding Cillian Murphy's major career milestone!

The Jurassic Park star, 76, spent some time with his Peaky Blinders costar Murphy, 47, following the latter's Best Actor win at Sunday's Oscars 2024, marking his first-ever Academy Award.

To celebrate, Neill shared a photo to Instagram of the pair smiling at a restaurant, with two Bloody Marys — and Murphy's shiny new Oscar statuette! — situated on the table in front of them.

"OSCAR! Here’s me pal #CillianMurphy the next day with the Gold Fella, and me," Neill wrote in the caption. "I could not be more thrilled, as you see. So well deserved."

"We had a great catch up. And a Bloody Mary. Or two," he quipped in addition. "What an actor , what a performance and what a movie #Oppenheimer."

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Sam Neill and Cillian Murphy in Peaky Blinders
Sam Neill and Cillian Murphy in Peaky Blinders.

Netflix

Neill appeared opposite Murphy's crime-boss character Tommy Shelby, as Chief Inspector/Major Chester Campbell, in the first two seasons of Peaky Blinders, from 2013 to 2014.

Of their scenes together in the hit BBC crime-drama series — which kicks off in the year 1919, directly after World War I — Murphy told the Belfast Telegraph in September 2014 that he found them to be a "great problem" to film.

"He's a good friend and I love him dearly, but we have this hatred in those scenes, so you go from hanging out and laughing to deep vitriol," the actor said. "He's such a despicable character, but you can't help but love him.”

Murphy is undoubtedly still riding high from his big victory on Sunday, which he nabbed for his portrayal of the morally conflicted father of the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer, in Christopher Nolan's 2023 summer-blockbuster epic Oppenheimer.

Cillian Murphy best actor oscars 03 10 24
Cillian Murphy wins Best Actor at the 96th Academy Awards on March 19, 2024, in Hollywood, California.

PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty

Speaking to reporters in the press room afterward, Murphy revealed he was still in a “daze” after winning the prize and admitted he couldn’t remember his acceptance speech. 

“It's a little bit of — I'm [in] a little bit of a daze, you know,” Murphy said. “I'm very overwhelmed. I'm very humbled. I'm very grateful. And you know, very proud to be — to be Irish standing here today.”

Murphy also revealed that if people only remembered him for his role in Nolan's movie, he would be "very content." (He and the director, 53, have work together several times over the past 20 years, including on 2005's Batman Begins, 2010's Inception and 2017's Dunkirk, though Oppenheimer marks his first starring role in a Nolan film.)

“You've got to move forward, but this has been a huge, huge moment for me,” he said. “The movie is so special to me and myself and Chris have such a special relationship that I just feel very privileged to be continuing to work with him."

"This is a film that is provocative and that asks questions and is challenging, but yet so many people want to see it," Murphy added. "So I'm really, really proud of that.”

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