Star channelled comedy villains for play
PEAKY Blinders star Cillian Murphy channelled Beetlejuice and Austin Powers’ Dr Evil to play a grieving father in a new play.
Grief Is The Thing With Feathers is a moving story of a devastated widower and his two young sons and a talking crow that invades their London apartment and acts as a therapist.
Murphy revealed the book by awardwinning novelist Max Porter had a huge impact on him.
He told the New York Times: “I read it in one go, in the bath. It absolutely floored me emotionally.” The Cork man, who plays the role of both dad and Crow, joked: “We’re not flying Crow in, it’s not a Cirque du Soleil interpretation.”
And the 41-year-old, himself a dad of two, revealed he had drawn diverse inspiration for the role, from Michael Keaton’s character in Tim Burton’s 1988 movie Beetlejuice to Austin Powers’ madcap Dr Evil. The sold-out play, directed by Enda Walsh, previewed in Galway’s Black Box Theatre last night.
To get into role, Murphy “tried not do anything transformative – other than growing a moustache.”
The actor, who previously worked with Walsh on Disco Dr Evil, Cillian and Beetlejuice Pigs, Ballyturk, and Misterman, said he relishes working with the playwright who gave him his big break.
He added: “We’ve known each other for 22 years. He gave me my first ever professional part and changed the course of my life.”
And the play seems to have been well-received by writer Porter who described Murphy’s performance as “phenomenal”.
The world premiere takes place at the Black Box Theatre on March 20 before transferring to the O’reilly Theatre in Dublin from March 28 to April 5.