On May 25th, 2025, we celebrate the 49th birthday of Cillian Murphy, one of our generation’s most renowned actors. He is known for his versatility, dramatic intensity, and his blue eyes’ intense glaze. To commemorate his special date, here is a must-know about his acting career.
An Artistic Child
Born in Cork, Ireland, Cillian Murphy grew up with a brother and two sisters at a house where the rooms were always invaded by music, the shelves were full of books, and the TV was rarely on. As a child, he would already show interest in the arts, which motivated his parents, a French teacher and a civil servant, to sign him up for drama class. From the first time he got up on a stage as a young boy in school, his love for acting would never stop growing.
Later, he started playing the guitar and became a part of a band called Sons of Mr. Green Genes with his brother at an all-boys private secondary school. He was still in the band after finishing school, until he attended University College Cork for a law degree. This was the time when he began acting professionally in theatre plays.
Where it all began: the first steps
Cillian appeared in a movie for the first time in 1997, titled Disco Pigs, a role he reprised later in 2001. His international debut was in Danny Boyle’s movie, 28 Days Later, in 2002.
The movie was an unexpected success, attracting Hollywood’s attention to Murphy. Because of this, in 2003, he was cast for other small roles in the Oscar-nominated titles Girl With a Pearl Earring and Cold Mountain. Two years later, one of the most iconic duos in cinema history would take its first step.
Murphy + Nolan, a perfect match
Yielding six iconic productions, Cillian Murphy´s partnership with the director Christopher Nolan began in 2005, with the movie Batman Begins.
For this production, Cillian took the test for the Batman role. He didn’t get it, but called Nolan’s attention to another role: The Scarecrow, the movie villain.
I was looking to cast Batman, looking for some actors to screen test, and I was just very struck by his eyes, his appearance, everything about him – wanted to find out more.
Christopher Nolan for GQ
In 2008, the Batman trilogy won its second movie: The Dark Knight, which probably gave Cillian the least to act on. Even so, he makes the most of his appearances.
Four years later, the last piece of the trilogy brought Cillian in a few brief moments in which, expectedly, he shone. As he’s known for, Murphy brought a unique intensity to the character and a threatening calm personality, which quickly called the audience’s attention. With this role, he left a memorable image in everyone’s head.
In 2010, between the release of the second and the third Batman movies, Cillian acted in Inception, in which he performed alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. Giving life to Fischer, Cillian faced the challenge to incorporate someone who had everything materially, but was always in need of attention from his father, and as a consequence, was deeply lacking emotionally.
With a completely new project, Cillian was called by Nolan once again, this time for Dunkirk, starring Harry Styles and Fionn Whitehead. This time, Murphy acts in a supporting role as a “Shivering Soldier”, as it’s given in the credits. Even if it was a small role, Cillian made it memorable again, portraying the terror that soldiers continue to feel after witnessing war-traumatizing events.
The last (until now) product of Nolan and Murphy’s partnership was Oppenheimer, the Oscar-winner production which gave them the same title for their work as director and actor.
In an interview for CBS’s “60 Minutes”, Cillian revealed Nolan left a handwritten note on his Oppenheimer script cover, which says: “Dearest Cillian. Finally, a chance to see you lead.”
I have always said publicly and privately, to Chris, that if I’m available and you want me to be in a movie, I’m there. I don’t really care about the size of the part. But deep down, secretly, I was desperate to play a lead for him.
This time, the result was a global fundraising of US$ 975 million and a production that gave Cillian all of the main prizes of the season, including the Oscars category, Best Actor.
Taking home the gold: an atomic performance
Oppenheimer gave Cillian his most praised performance in his whole career. Not as if it was unexpected, it gave him his first Oscar prize for a leading role. It was also the third time an Irish actor won the Best Actor prize in the Oscars’ history, following Daniel Day-Lewis and Barry Fitzgerald. The last two names hold Irish citizenship but were born in England, which makes Cillian the first Irish-born winner.
“It was a huge thing, a fever dream, really. I don’t think I’ve properly thought deeply about it or processed it in any way. Because it seems like …” Murphy paused. “Well, even when you just said it there, ‘Oscar winner’, it’s like, ‘What? Who?’”, he said in an interview for USA Today.
Also, in his Oscars speech, Murphy mentioned being a very proud Irishman on being on that stage that night.
Proud Irish folk: telling his country’s history
Being an Irish-born actor, Cillian has already participated in Irish movies, especially the ones that tell the country’s history. The first occasion was for The Wind That Shakes the Barley in 2006. The movie tells the story of the brothers Damien (Cillian Murphy) and Terry O’Donovan (Pádraic Delaney) who join the Irish Republican Army to fight for Ireland’s independence. Later on, they find themselves on opposite sides in the subsequent Irish Civil War. The movie is set in County Cork, where, curiously, Cillian was born.
On November 1st, 2024, Small Things Like These, based on the same-titled book by Claire Keegan, was released. Murphy gives life to Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and father of 5 daughters who uncovers a disturbing secret about the local convent’s treatment of young women. This event is a true story and is known in Ireland as the “Magdalene Laundries”.
“You want a film to be entertaining, but when it’s a real-life event and these institutions really existed, you just have to be very, very delicate, careful and respectful, I suppose,” he said in an interview to Q with Tom Power when asked about the responsibility on works like these.
A hero in his history
Masterminded Thomas Shelby was the role that consolidated Cillian’s name as one of the best globally. Blending intelligence, war trauma, charm, and ruthless control, Murphy flawlessly gave life to the gangster from Birmingham, having even trained the city’s accent. BBC’s original, Peaky Blinders, is one of the most-watched shows on Netflix. In its first week, the sixth and last season of the series got 904 million minutes watched and got second place at the platform’s global ranking, only behind Stranger Things.
Cillian said in an interview with the portal Entertainment that Tommy was a difficult role, because of his constant violent actions and “hyper-masculine” type.
I struggle with the violence sometimes, but there’s always consequences to the violence in Peaky, it isn’t like superhero violence. If someone gets injured, they stay injured. There are consequences. But I struggle with that part of it. But he is a contradictory, complex, difficult character to play. You’ve got to put aside your own moral compass and go with it.
Cillian Murphy
A film in the same universe as Peaky Blinders is being prepared, titled The Immortal Man, and its release is predicted for late 2025 or early 2026.
The Highlights
How about celebrating Cillian’s birthday by watching one of his career highlights? Here goes a list with some of the golds in his 25-year acting career.
1- Disco Pigs (2001)
Cillian’s debut in cinema was as an obsessive and disturbed young man living a toxic friendship experience. The movie is an adaptation of an Enda Walsh play with the same title.
2- 28 Days Later (2002)
Directed by Danny Boyle, this post-apocalyptic thriller movie reinvented the “zombie genre” and became a classic.
3- Batman Begins (2005)
As Dr. Jonathan Crane, or The Scarecrow, Cillian delivers a scary and enigmatic performance, marking Batman’s rebirth in Christopher Nolan’s hands.
4- Breakfast On Pluto (2005)
In a sensitive and courageous role, Cillian gives life to a transgender girl in search of her own identity, in a humorous and emotional movie.
5- Watching The Detectives (2007)
A light and funny independent romantic comedy where Murphy shows his light and charming side, this piece is full of fun, intelligent suspense, and mystery.
6- Inception (2010)
A universe of dreams and reality in which Cillian Murphy gives life to a crucial character in a fascinating and full of twists journey.
7- Peaky Blinders (2013-2022)
Murphy gives life to charismatic Thomas Shelby, leader of a gang living in post-World War I Birmingham in a six season show wrapped up by marking visuals and modern soundtrack.
8- Dunkirk (2017)
World War II drama portrayed by Cillian’s contained and powerful acting, which flawlessly retracts the suffering and courage of the soldiers who went through it. It also stars Harry Styles.
9- Oppenheimer (2023)
With the acting that gave Murphy a Best Actor Oscars, the mind behind the atomic bomb is pictured in a drama full of history, science and moral dilemma.
Life away from the spotlights
Cillian is a consecrated actor with lots of prizes and successful work. Even so, he is someone who avoids parties and big events. Father of two teenage sons and married to Yvonne McGuiness, Cillian likes to spend time at home with his family.
“I make sure that I try not to go from job to job to job, because that means you live in a bubble of set, hotel, set, hotel, plane, film festivals—which, to me, is not reality. So I just check out from that for six months a year.” He said in an interview with Hello!.
They live along the coast in Ireland, with the intention of moving away from the pressure of living in a massive city.
In an interview with The Guardian, he confessed to shying away from the “terrifying” Hollywood spotlight. “That was never in the job description, and I’m not very good at it. But it’s an unwritten part of the gig. You do the work, and then you have to go out and perform as yourself. I find it terrifying, because I’m not a personality, you know?”, he said.
What’s coming next?
Cillian Murphy is about to star and produce Steve, an adaptation of the Shy: A Novel. The film pictures a headteacher at a school for boys with behavioral challenges. It is set to release on Netflix, and its filming wrapped in June 2024.
Also, there’s a prison drama starring Cillian alongside Daniel Craig, whose name and details weren’t revealed yet. Even so, it is directed by Damien Chazelle – the director of La La Land -, which can give us something to expect about it.
Finally, the probable greatest expectation right now is The Immortal Man. Directed by Tom Harper and written by Steven Knight, the movie goes on in the same universe as Peaky Blinders, and marks Cillian’s return as Thomas Shelby. It will be distributed by Netflix. Filming was finished in June 2024, and the movie is predicted to be in our hands in late 2025 or early 2026.
Every new role is a gift to the audience, which makes this birthday feel a little like ours too – thank you, Cillian.
———————————–
The article above was edited by Isabelle Bignardi.
Did you like this type of content? Check Her Campus Cásper Líbero home page for more!