“You’re both British,” a journalist once told him and his co-star during a promotional interview. And he was quickly corrected. Cillian Murphy is a proud Irishman, born in 1976 in Douglas. He made his debut in 1996 in the play “Disco Pigs”, and five years later he starred in its adaptation. You can associate his cold, almost glassy look, which, however, can convey not only cold emotions, as well as clearly defined cheekbones, for example from the films “28 Days Later” from 2002 or “Red Eye” from 2005.
In 2005 on the set of ‘Red Eye’ East News
Cillian Murphy bet on acting, but not on stardom
The role of a transgender woman in Breakfast on Pluto earned him his first Golden Globe nomination in 2005. In the same year, his long-term collaboration with Christopher Nolan began, which resulted in the phenomenal role of Murphy in “Oppenheimer” this year.
But first there was the Scarecrow in the Dark Knight trilogy. The role is also great, although he was overshadowed – as well as by Christian Bale himself as Batman – by Heath Ledger as the Joker. Then Nolan and the Irish actor met on the set of “Inception” (2010) and “Dunkirk” (2017). And if in 2020 “The Irish Times” had not included him among the greatest Irish actors of all time, after “Oppenheimer” it would definitely have to happen.
Of course, one of the most important roles of Cillian Murphy (pronounced Kill-ian, not Cill-ian) is Tommy Shelby in the series “Peaky Blinders”. This World War I veteran leads a gang operating in Birmingham in 1919 – the Peaky Blinders were a real group, though Shelby is a fictional character. The crime boss will pay any price to climb the career ladder to the very top. At the same time, we follow his love life and struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder. – To say it’s magnetic is an understatement when it comes to its presence on screen. And although the rest of the cast is good, there is a difference when he is not in the frame – wrote journalist Emily VanDerWerff about the role of Murphy in the series shown by Netflix in Poland. Another reviewed: Tommy Shelby may not be a good man, but he’s so good to watch on screen.
In the third season of Peaky Blinders (2015-2016) Robert Viglasky/Netflix Promotional Material
The actor’s parents are a French teacher and an employee of the Ministry of Education. Also his grandfather, aunts and uncles are teachers. Sam Cillian once wanted to be a rock star, studied law for a semester half-heartedly, eventually betting on acting – but not stardom. Until 2010, he did not appear on talk shows at all, then he did it not very willingly. “I don’t create controversy, I don’t sleep with anyone, I don’t stagger drunk,” he said in an interview. According to him, the only extravagant thing in his life is a stereo system that he bought as a big music fan.
With my wife, rather not on the walls, but in front of the TV or in the kitchen
If you meet him on a Dublin street (or any other city), he’ll probably talk to you politely, as long as you don’t take pictures of him first. One of the things he hates is taking snapshots and filming secretly. “I was sitting in the subway recently and people started filming me. It’s not that I’m whining like a ‘poor fucking celebrity’, I’m very happy and privileged and all that, but I think this issue of using cameras everywhere is something we need to sort out – last year.
Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh promote ‘Oppenheimer’ Vianney Le Caer / Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP
Instead, he is involved in charitable and social activities, promoting, for example, going to elections. Together with his wife – artist Yvonne McGuinness – they lived in London for many years, but in 2015 they moved to Dublin. They have known each other since his adventure with music – they met in 1996 at his concert, and in 2004 they got married. They have two children. The elder son Malacha was born in 2005 and the younger son Aran in 2007. For years he was a vegetarian (although, he explained, more because of fear of contracting mad cow disease, rather than for ethical reasons). When he started starring in Peaky Blinders in 2013, he had to go back to eating meat to gain weight and muscle. After filming season six, however, he gave up meat again. Last year, he revealed that he and his wife, apart from watching movies and listening to music, also like to cook together.
He lost weight for his role in Oppenheimer. – I was competing with myself to see how little I could eat to survive. It wasn’t healthy. I don’t recommend it to anyone. I was running with some strange energy. At some point, I just stopped eating,” the actor told The Guardian.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
