Cillian Murphy Calls Press Tours a ‘Broken Model’ Because ‘Everybody Is So Bored,’ Says ‘Red Eye’ Is a Fine B-Movie but ‘I Don’t Think It’s a Good Movie’

variety.com:

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Cillian Murphy‘s “Oppenheimer” press tour is now in its final stages as the actor does his final weeks of campaigning in the lead up to the Oscars, where he’s nominated for best actor thanks to his leading turn in Christopher Nolan’s atom bomb epic.

If it were up to Murphy, there might not have been a press tour to begin with. In a new GQ cover story, the actor admits that press tours (complete with red-carpet interviews and junkets) are not a great model and he’d much prefer to let the movies do the heavy promotional lifting. “I think it’s a broken model,” he said of Hollywood’s press tour system, admitting that he was somewhat relieved when the SAG-AFTRA strike began just head of “Oppenheimer’s” opening weekend as it meant no more press opportunities for a certain amount of time. “The model is — everybody is so bored.” Even with its actors prevented from doing press, Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” still turned into a box office powerhouse along with its release date partner “Barbie.” Nolan’s film has earned more than $955 million at the worldwide box office, making it the highest-grossing biographical drama in film history. “Same was the case with ‘Peaky Blinders,'” Murphy pointed out. “The first three seasons there was no advertising, a tiny show on BBC Two; it just caught fire because people talked to each other about it.” “It’s like Joanne Woodward said,” he added. “‘Acting is like sex—do it, don’t talk about it’ … People always used to say to me, ‘He has reservations’ or ‘He’s a difficult interviewee.’ Not really!