Portrait · Harald Krichel / CC BY-SA 4.0

Cillian Murphy

Actor and producer

Born 1976

Cillian Murphy is an Irish actor and producer born in Douglas, Cork. His mother taught French and his father worked as an education inspector. He attended Presentation Brothers College, where music and performance offered alternatives to its academic and sporting emphasis. In Carl O’Brien’s interview, he connected acting with listening to other people. His later involvement in empathy education grew from that interest in understanding experiences beyond his own. Music preceded professional acting. Murphy played in The Sons of Mr. Green Genes, taking the name from Frank Zappa. He and his brother pursued the band seriously. In his SPIN interview, he recalled turning down a record contract and remained an enthusiastic listener, discussing Radiohead alongside his television work. A brief period studying law at University College Cork gave way to theatre. Enda Walsh’s Disco Pigs launched his professional career in 1996. Its touring life brought opportunities beyond Cork, and Murphy later reprised Pig in the film adaptation. Early screen work expanded into the lead role in Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later. His film career moved between leading and supporting parts: the threatened traveller in Red Eye, Kitten Braden in Breakfast on Pluto, and Damien in The Wind That Shakes the Barley. Christopher Nolan cast him as Jonathan Crane, Robert Fischer and the frightened soldier in Dunkirk before giving him the lead in Oppenheimer. Television supplied a sustained central role as Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders. Theatre remained part of that career. His collaborations with Walsh included the solo Misterman and the ensemble Ballyturk. Galway’s production history documents their premieres and subsequent touring. He later played Dad in the stage adaptation of Max Porter’s Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, which premiered in Galway and Dublin in March 2018. His portrayal of J. Robert Oppenheimer received the 2024 Academy Award for leading actor. Production has become another route to choosing material. Big Things Films, his company with Alan Moloney, lists Small Things Like These and Steve. In Steve, he plays a headteacher struggling with the demands of a school and his own wellbeing. Discussing the film with Katie McCabe, he described his preference for challenging stories. Its smaller scale continues a career that moves between large studio productions and intimate work. Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man returned Shelby to the screen in 2026, with cinema and Netflix releases in March. Away from acting, Murphy and his wife, artist Yvonne McGuinness, are pursuing the redevelopment of Dingle’s Phoenix cinema. August reporting records planning approval following appeals; the proposed cultural space remains a project rather than a completed reopening. Boyle’s latest update anticipates a substantial Murphy role in another 28 Years Later film, while leaving its timing unresolved.

Verified identityCore facts checked against named sources.

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Connected people

ConnectionEnda WalshCollaborator across Disco Pigs, Misterman, Ballyturk and Grief Is the Thing with Feathers.

ConnectionAlan MoloneyPartner in Big Things Films.

ConnectionChristopher NolanDirector of Murphy’s Oppenheimer performance.

Selected career chronology

Credits Index

Major screen, stage, music, sport or broadcast work. This is a selected public-career index, not a complete employment history.

Year	Title	Medium	Role	IMDb
1996	Disco Pigs	stage	Pig	—
1999	Sunburn	film	Davin McDerby	IMDb
1999	The Trench	film	Rag Rookwood	IMDb
2001	On the Edge	film	Jonathan Breech	IMDb
2001	Disco Pigs	film	Pig	IMDb
2001	How Harry Became a Tree	film	Gus	IMDb
2001	Watchmen	film	Phil	IMDb
2001	Watchmen	film	Co-writer	IMDb
2002	28 Days Later	film	Jim	IMDb
2003	Intermission	film	John	IMDb
2003	Girl with a Pearl Earring	film	Pieter	IMDb
2003	Cold Mountain	film	Bardolph	IMDb
2005	Batman Begins	film	Dr. Jonathan Crane	IMDb
2005	Breakfast on Pluto	film	Patrick 'Kitten' Braden	IMDb
2005	Red Eye	film	Jackson Rippner	IMDb
2006	The Wind That Shakes the Barley	film	Damien	IMDb
2007	Sunshine	film	Capa	IMDb
2007	Watching the Detectives	film	Neil	IMDb
2008	The Dark Knight	film	Scarecrow	IMDb
2008	The Edge of Love	film	William Killick	IMDb
2008	Waveriders	documentary	Self — Narrator (voice)	IMDb
2009	Perrier’s Bounty	film	Michael	IMDb
2009	The Water	short film	Son	IMDb
2010	Peacock	film	John Skillpa / Emma Skillpa	IMDb
2010	Inception	film	Robert Fischer, Jr.	IMDb
2011	Retreat	film	Martin	IMDb
2011	In Time	film	Raymond Leon	IMDb
2011	Misterman	stage	Thomas	—
2012	Red Lights	film	Tom Buckley	IMDb
2012	Broken	film	Mike Kiernan	IMDb
2012	The Dark Knight Rises	film	Dr. Jonathan Crane	IMDb
2013	Peaky Blinders	television	Tommy Shelby (2013–2022)	IMDb
2013	MONEY: Hold Me Forever	music video	Director	—
2014	Transcendence	film	Agent Buchanan	IMDb
2014	Aloft	film	Ivan	IMDb
2014	Ballyturk	stage	Performer	—
2015	In the Heart of the Sea	film	Matthew Joy	IMDb
2016	Anthropoid	film	Josef Gabcík	IMDb
2016	Free Fire	film	Chris	IMDb
2017	Dunkirk	film	Shivering Soldier	IMDb
2017	The Party	film	Tom	IMDb
2018	The Delinquent Season	film	Jim	IMDb
2018	The Overcoat	short film	Akaky (voice)	IMDb
2018	Grief Is the Thing with Feathers	stage	Dad	—
2019	Anna	film	Lenny Miller	IMDb
2019	The Irish Revolution	television	Self — Narrator	IMDb
2020	A Quiet Place Part II	film	Emmett	IMDb
2021	All of This Unreal Time	short film	The Everyman	IMDb
2022	Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom	video game	Thomas Shelby (voice)	IMDb
2022	Cillian Murphy’s Limited Edition	audio	Host and curator	—
2023	Oppenheimer	film	J. Robert Oppenheimer	IMDb
2023	Kensuke’s Kingdom	film	Dad (voice)	IMDb
2024	Small Things Like These	film	Bill Furlong	IMDb
2024	Small Things Like These	film	Producer	IMDb
2025	Steve	film	Steve	IMDb
2025	28 Years Later	film	Executive producer	IMDb
2025	Steve	film	Producer	IMDb
2026	28 Years Later: The Bone Temple	film	Jim (uncredited)	IMDb
2026	28 Years Later: The Bone Temple	film	Executive producer	IMDb
2026	Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man	film	Tommy Shelby	IMDb
2026	Taylor Swift: Opalite	music video	Opalite Spokesperson & Ad Voiceover	IMDb
2027	A Quiet Place Part III	film	Emmett — forthcoming	IMDb
—	Untitled Damien Chazelle Project	film	Performer — forthcoming	IMDb