Backstage at the Oscars: Cillian Murphy on historic win, Emma Stone and her ripped dress, and more

Oppenheimer won Best Picture at the 96th Academy Awards on Sunday night, and backstage, its big winners were in the mood to celebrate — minus Best Supporting Actor winner Robert Downey Jr., who was a no-show for the assembled press. 

Christopher Nolan was “thrilled,” joking he could now “do curls” after winning both a Best Director and Best Picture trophy for the nuclear biopic: “They’re very heavy,” he quipped.

He called the blockbuster success of the film “just the most incredible thrill” that “far exceeded anything that I imagined possible.”

“And, you know, winning this recognition from my peers is just, I mean, the icing on the cake,” he added, calling Oscar night, “a wonderful finish to what’s been an incredible year.”

Cillian Murphy explained winning with Nolan was especially sweet. “I did a screen test for him when I was a kid, and I thought that would be it … And here we are,” said the “humbled and thankful” Best Actor winner. 

Murphy’s Oscar was the first for an Ireland-born actor. He called that “really, really meaningful to me,” adding, “in Ireland, you know, we’re really great at supporting artists,” calling continuing to do so, “vitally important.”

Emma Stone admitted she was as “shocked” as she appeared to be when accepting her Best Actress win for Poor Things. She also dished on her wardrobe malfunction before her speech. “They sewed me back in!” she revealed. 

“I genuinely do think I busted it during ‘I’m Just Ken.’ I was so amazed by Ryan [Gosling] … that number just blew my mind. And I was right there, and I just was going for it. And, you know, things happen!” she added with a giggle.

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