Cillian Murphy

Born on May 25, 1976, the future Peaky Blinder and Oscar winner for Oppenheimer showed an interest in music before moving on to theatre and then to Hollywood. Despite that, he’s an actor through and through, and not one of the thousands of musicians-turned-actors who seem to be in every new movie that hits the cinema screens despite not having the acting chops to back themselves up.

No, Murphy has always been an excellent actor, and in this article, I’m going to take a closer look at the proof. I’ll be covering his transition from music to acting, diving into his biography and filmography, and examining what we know about his personal life. And so with all of that in mind, let’s get started.

Early Years

Born in Douglas in Cork, Ireland, Cillian Murphy’s age will be 50 in 2026, making him relatively young for a Hollywood icon. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves, because there’s a lot to say about this iconic Irish actor before he ever appeared in his first movie.

Murphy was born to parents who were heavily involved in education—Brendan (who worked for the Irish Department of Education) and Mary (who was a French teacher). Ooh, la la! Many of his relatives were teachers too, which meant that he enjoyed a fairly solid education from an early age.

As a teenager, Murphy built his musical background by playing guitar and singing in a rock band called the Sons of Mr. Green Genes. The band did fairly well, and they were even offered a record deal. However, Murphy turned it down so that he could focus on acting.

That’s where his early career really kicks in. While Murphy briefly studied law at University College Cork, he failed his first year exams and switched to acting, making his theatre debut in 1996 in a play called Disco Pigs, where he earned his first glowing reviews. The decision to pursue acting full-time soon followed.

Murphy’s Breakthrough Roles and Famous Movies

The list of Cillian Murphy movies begins with his 1999 debut in the Irish independent drama Sunburn, although most people think of his breakthrough films as starting with 28 Days Later, the ground-breaking post-apocalyptic zombie horror movie that was written by Alex Garland and directed by Danny Boyle.

Murphy’s early roles continued with Girl with a Pearl Earring, where he showcased his versatility by taking on a historical drama the year after becoming a horror icon, starring alongside Scarlett Johansson. In 2005, he took on his first major villain role in Wes Craven’s 2005 thriller Red Eye, in which he played a terrorist opposite Rachel McAdams.

Later on that year, he played a transgender woman in Breakfast on Pluto, a role which earned him a huge amount of critical acclaim alongside his first ever Golden Globe nomination. In 2006, he starred in Ken Loach’s 2006 movie The Wind That Shakes the Barley, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, and that was followed in 2007 by the science fiction thriller Sunshine.

The interesting thing about all of these collaborations is that they allowed Murphy to work with a range of well-respected directors long before he became known for his partnership with Christopher Nolan. Which brings us on to the next point.

Batman and Christopher Nolan Collaborations

One of the most well-known aspects of the long list of Cillian Murphy movies and TV shows is the fact that he keeps on working with Christopher Nolan. But how did the two of them first cross paths?

Well, it turns out that Murphy and Nolan first met when he auditioned for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in 2005’s Batman Begins. Murphy didn’t get the role, but Nolan was so impressed with his performance that he still wanted to bring him on board for the Batman trilogy. That led to Murphy being given the role of Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow, a role which he reprised in The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

Nolan and Murphy also worked together on 2010’s Inception and 2017’s Dunkirk, but their biggest success came with the Oppenheimer Oscar win of 2023, after Murphy played the title role of J. Robert Oppenheimer. His performance was so impressive that it won an Academy Award, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor.

Becoming Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders

Cillian Murphy’s most famous TV role is that of Tommy Shelby in the BBC series Peaky Blinders, which aired across six seasons between 2013 and 2022. Tommy is the leader of the Shelby crime family, a complex gangster who’s feared and loved in equal measure. Throughout the seasons, viewers learn that Tommy is a war veteran who’s shaped by his trauma, as well as a calculating businessman who’s able to blend crime with politics to ensure that his own interests always come first.

This gangster role had a huge impact, leading to international success and a cult following for the series that continues to this day. Its influence stretches far further than the small screen, too. For example, the Cillian Murphy Peaky Blinders trademark hairstyle is so iconic that it became a fashion in its own right, showing just how trends come round over and over again throughout the years.

The show also demonstrated just how much work Murphy is willing to put into getting the job done. He researched the effects of war trauma and spent a ton of time working on his Birmingham accent to make it as convincing as possible. And the good news for fans of the show is that a Peaky Blinders movie is reported to be in the works and coming soon.

28 Years Later and Other Recent Projects

There’s been a huge amount of speculation about what Cillian Murphy intends to do next now that Oppenheimer has cemented his superstar status. It seems that the actor has decided to go full circle, because his list of 2025 projects included a return to the Danny Boylezombie sequel 28 Years Later, which is a direct follow-up to 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later.

The 28 Years Later Cillian Murphy story starts with Murphy acting as executive producer for the first film in the planned 28 Years trilogy, before making a cameo in the second movie (The Bone Temple) and being expected to make a fuller return in the finale. 

Other recent films include action-thriller Anna (2019), A Quiet Place Part II (2020) and Small Things Like These (2024). A little further back, he portrayed a real-life World War II hero in 2016’s Anthropoid, another great example of his ability to work on period pieces. It also underscores Murphy’s selective approach to the roles he takes on. He’s known for prioritising projects where he can take on complex characters that challenge him as an actor, as well as for balancing indie films with high-profile Hollywood blockbusters.

Murphy’s Appearance and Other Stats

Now that we’ve taken a closer look at his acting career, it’s time to turn to his physical stats, appearance and other details. Let’s start with Cillian Murphy height, which is 5’9” or 175 centimetres. His weight is approximately 70 kilograms (around 11 stone), and he’s known by fans and critics alike for his piercing blue eyes, sharp cheekbones and lean physique.

But that’s just the default version of Cillian Murphy, and the actor is known for his willingness to go through physical transformations for his roles. For example, he lost a bunch of weight for 28 Days Later so that he could better reflect the look of a man who’d found himself in a post-apocalyptic world.

Today, he’s known for being a style icon, with fashion trends like the Peaky Blinders cut showing just how much of an influence he’s had on popular culture. You’ll rarely see him wearing anything other than high-end clothing, and while we don’t know too much about his fitness and grooming routines, we can safely say that he’s found the secret to aging gracefully.

Murphy’s Personal Life and Family

Cillian Murphy has been married since 2004 to an Irish visual artist called Yvonne McGuinness, whom he first met at a music festival back in 1996. The actor has always had an extremely private family life, but there are a few things that we do know and which we can cover here.

Murphy and his wife Yvonne McGuinness have two sons: Malachy, who was born in 2005, and Aran, who was born in 2007. The Cillian Murphy kids have always attracted a certain amount of attention, which is one of the reasons why Cillian and Yvonne decided to relocate from London to Dublin in 2015. That also allowed them to ensure that the kids would receive a more traditional Irish upbringing.

The Murphys rarely discuss their kids in interviews, and Cillian goes out of his way to maintain a relatively low profile and to allow his work to speak for itself. His determination to provide a normal childhood for his kids is likely one of the reasons why he doesn’t spend time on social media. He’d much rather spend it in person with his loved ones, which include his siblings, Páidi, Sile and Orla.

Awards and Recognition

It should go without saying that the Academy Award/Oscar for Best Actor in Oppenheimer was the peak of the Cillian Murphy story to date, but that’s far from the only piece of recognition he’s received throughout the years. In fact, the Oscar winner has been given a whole range of awards that go above and beyond the Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award he received for the same movie.

In 2020, the Irish Times named him as one of Ireland’s greatest ever film actors, and he’s received multiple nominations for major awards throughout his career, dating back to the Golden Globe nomination he received for 2005’s Breakfast on Pluto. 

Even earlier than that, the Irish actor received several theatre awards and nominations for his incredible stage presence and ability to make roles his own. But for Cillian, we can safely say that the greatest reward of all has likely been his impact on the world of cinema and the way in which he’s put Ireland on the map for generations of young actors and filmmakers to come.

Acting Style and Career

Cillian Murphy has taken on so many varied roles that it’s difficult to define his style, because that can change from one movie to another. With that said, he has a reputation for putting a huge amount of preparatory work into every role and often for method acting. At the very least, he needs to understand the character’s psychology before filming begins, which isn’t always easy because he usually opts for complicated characters as opposed to typical heroes.

His career philosophy is defined by the selective roles he takes on, and it’s not uncommon for him to turn down lucrative, commercial contracts to work on an indie project that interests him. He’s also known for his loyalty to the directors he works with, as well as the way in which his theatre background and commitment to strong scripts have had a major influence on his movies.

Cillian Murphy has always valued artistic integrity over fame and fortune, and it looks like he always will. And that’s just another one of the many reasons why his millions of fans love and respect him.