MURPHY was just twenty when he took his first leading role in the Irish movie that was to showcase his talent.
He did so after dropping out of law school and getting his first big break thanks to Pat Kiernan of legendary Cork theatre group Corcadorca. He cast him as the lead in Disco Pigs, a play about two friends born moments apart and their intense relationship.
It became a hit, and Kirsten Sheridan (daughter of Jim) cast the actor in the big-screen adaptation.
COULD Sunshine be Murphy’s most underrated film?
He’s great in this low-budget, high-octane sci-fi movie which sees him reteaming with British director Danny Boyle.
The actor indulges his desire to mix up his roles in a movie set in the near future. Earth’s sun is dying and the very survival of human existence is under threat.
The actor is one of a crew who ventures into space with a device that might just revive the sun. But they face a challenging and hazardous journey.
BALLYTURK (2014)
SOME of Murphy’s greatest performances have been on the stage - his early career success in Enda Walsh’s Disco Pigs, for example (see above left).
He teamed up with Walsh again in 2014 for the astonishing Ballyturk, which combined manic physical comedy with a meditation on the brevity of our earthly existence. It also starred Stephen Rea and Mikel Murfi and stunned audiences at both Galway International Arts Festival and O’reilly Theatre in Dublin.
And in 2019, when Walsh adapted the Max Porter’s novel Grief is the Thing with Feathers for the theatre, Murphy was absolutely riveting as a both a bereaved husband – and an imaginary crow.
OPPENHEIMER (2023)
MURPHY had already worked with British director Christopher Nolan five times, shining in supporting roles including Nolan’s Batman trilogy, in wartime epic Dunkirk, and sci-fi thriller Inception.
When Nolan began work on a film about ‘the father of the atomic bomb’ J Robert Oppenheimer, he knew he had his leading man.
The Irish star carries almost every scene in the three hour movie, gaining universal praise for his performance.
As Oscar night approached, he became a clear favourite to win Best Actor on his first nomination.
DISCO PIGS (2001)
SUNSHINE (2007)
PEAKY BLINDERS (2013 ON)
HAVING noticed the growing trend for binge-watchable TV series, the Cork actor started reading scripts for new shows as he sought out a TV project.
He struck gold with Peaky Blinders, the BBC series which ran for six seasons from 2013 until 2022, becoming a global hit in the process. Much of that success was down to Murphy’s Tommy Shelby, a dangerous, troubled criminal leader of the notorious Peaky Blinders gang in 1920s Birmingham. Creator Steven Knight is now planning a movie.
INTERMISSION (2003)
MURPHY was one of a number of Irish stars — including a young Colin Farrell — to have a blast in John Crowley’s chaotically funny Irish crime comedy.
He plays a lovelorn banker drawn into a planned bank heist after a chance encounter with a local crook. But their activity quickly comes under the radar of a hotshot detective and Clannad fan (Colm Meaney) who is on the case. Cillian’s character introduced audiences everywhere to the distinctly divisive drink of tea with brown sauce.
IRELAND celebrated last week as one of our most popular movie actors made history by winning an Oscar, the most cherished prize in cinema.
Corkman Cillian Murphy has been entertaining audiences for over three decades on the big and small screen — and on stage.
In celebration of his Best Actor Oscar win for Oppenheimer, ESTHER MCCARTHY remembers some of his most incredible performances.
THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY (2006) MURPHY spent much of 2005 filming in his native Cork — and in his own accent — for a very personal drama based around a turbulent time in Irish history.
The actor displays his trademark intensity as one of two brothers who fight for Irish independence, only to find themselves on opposing sides when the War of Independence breaks out.
Ken Loach’s film went on to win the coveted Palme D’OR at the Cannes film festival the following year.
INCEPTION (2010) MURPHY plays the thoughtful son of a billionaire in Christopher Nolan’s highly regarded sci-fi thriller.
To some extent he is the conscience of this film about a thief (Leo Di Caprio) who enters people’s dreams and steals secrets from their subconscious.
The twisty thriller became one of the best-reviewed films of the year. The movie also proved to be a box-office smash when it was released in the summer of 2010, further boosting interest in the Irish star.
BREAKFAST ON PLUTO (2006) MURPHY is known to bat for roles that he’s passionate about - he approached Irish director Neil Jordan when the filmmaker suggested bringing Pat Mccabe’s novel to the big screen. He excelled in the unconventional role of Patrick ‘Kitten’ Brady, a transgender character who moves around Ireland and then London to experience big-city life, become a rock star and be reunited with long-lost family.
28 DAYS LATER (2002) DIRECTOR Danny Boyle’s brilliantly unsettling zombie movie gave the genre a realistic edge by setting it in contemporary London.
He cast the young Murphy, excellent as a courier who suffers a coma following an accident, only to wake to a deserted city.
A virus called Rage has infected the city, with the Irish actor joining a shrinking number of survivors fighting for survival.
DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY (2005 ON) THE actor started what would be a two-decade working relationship with Christopher Nolan — that would ultimately lead to his Oscar-winning performance — on this Batman trilogy.
Murphy even tried on the batsuit that Christian Bale would ultimately wear - instead he shone in an excellent supporting role as comicbook nemesis Dr Jonathan Crane aka The Scarecrow.
He relished the opportunity to play a villain in the form of the unorthodox scientist who carried out creepy experiments in the prison where he worked.