Cillian Murphy

Biography

Cillian Murphy (/ˈkɪliən/ KILL-ee-ən; born 25 May 1976) is an Irish actor. He made his professional debut in Enda Walsh's 1996 play Disco Pigs, and in the 2001 screen adaptation of the same name. 

His early notable film credits include the horror film 28 Days Later (2002), the dark comedy Intermission (2003), the thriller Red Eye (2005), the Irish war drama The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006), and the thriller Sunshine (2007).

 He played a transgender Irish woman in the comedy-drama Breakfast on Pluto (2005), which earned him a nomination for a Golden Globe Award.

Murphy began collaborating with filmmaker Christopher Nolan in 2005, playing Dr. Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow in The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005–2012) as well as appearing in Inception (2010) and Dunkirk (2017). 

He gained prominence for his role as Tommy Shelby in the BBC period drama series Peaky Blinders (2013–2022) and for starring in the horror sequel A Quiet Place Part II (2020). Murphy reunited with Nolan starring as J. Robert Oppenheimer in the biographical epic Oppenheimer (2023).

In 2011, Murphy won the Irish Times Theatre Award for Best Actor and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance for the one-man play Misterman. In 2020, The Irish Times named him one of the greatest Irish film actors.

Murphy (third from the left) with Tim Smyth, Eoin O'Sullivan, and Maria-Theresa Grandfield in 1992.

Murphy was born on 25 May 1976 in Douglas, Cork. His mother taught French while his father, Brendan, worked for the Department of Education. His grandfather, aunts, and uncles were also teachers.

 He was raised in Ballintemple, Cork, alongside his younger brother Páidi and two younger sisters Sile and Orla. He started writing and performing songs at the age of 10. 

He was raised Catholic and attended the fee-paying Catholic secondary school Presentation Brothers College, where he did well academically but often got into trouble, sometimes being suspended; he decided in his fourth year that misbehaving was not worth the hassle.

 Not keen on sports, which was a major part of the school's curriculum, he found that artistic pursuits were neglected at the school