The Lesser-Known Truth About Cillian Murphy

Cillian Murphy — whose acting career has contributed to a million-dollar net worth — is not a fan of the spotlight. The actor has gained notoriety for keeping to himself off-camera. He wasn't close with his "Peaky Blinders" co-stars, and his "Oppenheimer" castmates have confirmed his introverted nature in the past. In an interview with Fandango, Matt Damon (Leslie Groves) disclosed that Murphy turned down every dinner he was invited to when filming the Christopher Nolan blockbuster. And when Emily Blunt (Kitty Oppenheimer) spoke to "60 Minutes," she said of Murphy, "He's the best actor in the world and he's the worst celebrity in the world."

True to Blunt's sentiments, Murphy is not in the business of image. The limelight only happens to be a by-product of his occupation. As he told The Irish Times, "I didn't see myself as a personality. I see myself as an actor. I think those are two distinct jobs. And my job is to portray other people. The less that people know about me the better I can portray other people. That seems glaringly obvious and logical to me."

Despite the mysterious allure he exudes, Murphy has occasionally given the public what it wants: a taste of his personality. Keep scrolling for his untold story.

A young Cillian Murphy had been asking for stage play opportunities from the now-defunct Corcadorca Theatre Company's creator, Pat Kiernan, for a while. When his chance came in the form of "Disco Pigs," he ran with it. The moment the script of Enda Walsh's play landed on his lap, Murphy knew he'd struck gold. "I sensed there was something great in it," the actor recounted in an interview with The Irish Times. His intuition worked in his favor because the teenage love story eventually made it to numerous stages around the world and was adapted for film in 2001.

In theatre, Murphy picked up a valuable wisdom nugget — paying attention to his surroundings — which he shared with "60 Minutes."

He went on to appear in more plays, including "The Shape of Things," "Love Song," and "The Seagull." In 2006, Murphy took a break from theatre. After a while, he was back on the hunt. He told Live Journal, "There's a couple of other things that I'm kind of looking at doing this summer, but I'm actively searching out a new theater job, actually. It's been about four years since I've been on stage, and it kind of feels like the time is right to go on ..."

Murphy continued to work on stage afterward until 2019, when he played the leading role in "Grief is the Thing with Feathers."

In her conversation with "60 Minutes," Cillian Murphy's "Oppenheimer" co-star Emily Blunt not only praised Murphy's acting skills but also aired the opinion that he is oblivious to his prowess. How Murphy breathes life into characters may seem to come with such ease, but it's not always the case. In a 2006 chat with The Guardian, Murphy revealed that playing Dr. Damien O'Donovan in the Ken Loach-directed top-grossing Irish indie film "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" wasn't a walk in the park. "That was the most challenging character I've played to date," Murphy told the publication. "But there was something even scarier about playing someone who's from my own territory. Plus, I'm pure, undiluted Cork. I go back and back. My granny's people were from around Ballingeary. In many ways, I had to get it right."

Similarly, "Peaky Blinders" impressively amassed viewing minutes in the millions when its 2022 season finale aired, but playing Thomas Shelby for years wasn't a smooth sail. According to Murphy, Shelby and himself were worlds apart in their personalities. "I'm not a tough guy at all so it was by far the toughest character I have ever portrayed," he told the BBC.

Long before he grew popular for playing characters like Thomas Shelby, Cillian Murphy was part of a jazz-inspired band named The Sons of Mr. Green Genes. In a 1997 interview, Murphy described the five-member band's sound as one which was modern but guided by the epitome of true artistry: liberation. "It's a music that's popular in the '90s, and it's not ... it's not constrained by any formula," he explained. "And that came from the whole spirit of jazz, which is the freedom to express yourself on your instrument."

The Sons of Mr. Green Genes would have gone mainstream had they signed a record deal that was presented to them, but that didn't come to fruition. When it dissolved, Murphy wasn't saddened by the split. He told The Guardian, "We did pretty well, but I'm happy it didn't work out. All bands fall out. Unless you're Coldplay, you get signed, used up, and spat out. At least as an actor you can make decisions on your own. That five-person dynamic in a band is traumatic."

Murphy's musical dreams didn't work out, and neither did his attempt to attend law school, from which he dropped out in his sophomore year.

According to his 2022 conversation with The Guardian, Cillian Murphy and his wife practice vegetarianism. "I was vegetarian for a long time then I relapsed and now I've relapsed back to vegetarianism," Murphy told the outlet. 

In 2017, during his relapse, the "In Time" actor told Mr. Porter that he'd only taken up the habit out of the fear of contracting mad cow disease, but things changed when he was cast on "Peaky Blinders." " For the first series of "Peaky Blinders," they were anxious that I shouldn't look like a skinny Irish fella, and my trainer recommended meat," he revealed while having a cheeseburger for lunch.

Five years later, in an interview with the "WTF" podcast, Murphy said he had returned to his vegetarian roots. He was so keen on maintaining his plant-based diet that he didn't have any cravings except for cheese. "I don't miss the meat," the "28 Days Later" actor shared. "I've been off the meat for a long time. I did have kind of a relapse and I didn't feel any better. So I'm back off it again."

In the season finale's first episode of "Peaky Blinders," Thomas Shelby (Cillian Murphy) enters Miquelon Island, a French-speaking territory. To the actor's fans' delight, Shelby speaks French with a stunning flow. Unknown to most fans, Murphy was fluent in the European language until he cast it aside in his early twenties. 

How, then, was he so good on-screen that he was nearly perfect? You may ask. Well, the actor's mom, a former French teacher, is the unsung hero behind the scenes who polished his delivery. "I sent (the scripts) to her and she sent them back to me and we worked out how to make it as conversational as possible," Murphy disclosed in a chat with Deadline." We didn't want it to be too formal cause you would have picked up that sort of French in the trenches back in the day. So yes, my mother was the French teacher on the job even though she didn't get a credit."

In an interview with "Extra," Cillian Murphy's "Oppenheimer" co-star Emily Blunt let it be known that he was so engulfed in his character's element, such that "he could only eat like an almond every day." The claim resonated with viewers due to the theoretical physicist's lean frame and quickly spread, but Murphy thought the truth had been stretched a little.

"I think Emily was being very sympathetic to me and said Cillian only had one almond a day," he explained to GQ. "I was kind of reducing calories and all that stuff, so just, I didn't go out for dinner or any of that stuff. But I had more than one almond a day for sure. I wouldn't recommend anyone exists on an almond a day." His approach, as told to The Guardian, was a bit too aggressive, but he gained the weight back.

On the flip side, Murphy's process for bulking up when playing Thomas Shelby on "Peaky Blinders" included a protein-rich diet and hours in the gym. Per an interview with Radio Times (via the Daily Mail), he didn't really like working out. "... I have to eat a lot of protein and lift a lot of weights and do all that stuff. So that takes a while, which I hate."

Cillian Murphy grew up in the city of Cork, located in the southwestern part of Ireland. It was there that his passion for film was nurtured. As the actor recalled in a conversation with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, he watched too many American television shows in his childhood. Murphy eventually left his hometown, joining the list of Irish stars like Liam Neeson who pursued greener pastures away from their home country. He settled in London, where he lived for more than a decade. As of December 2012, Murphy and his family were tucked in a tranquil neighborhood in the England capital, away from the glaring eyes of the public.

In the Mid-2010s, the Murphys moved back to Cork. It was a decision the actor was proud of since his children would have a full-on Irish upbringing and grow closer to his parents. Speaking to The Guardian about the relocation, he said, "We wanted them to be Irish, I suppose. It's amazing how quickly their accents have adapted. Even within a year of moving back, they are fading into this rakish West Brit kind of thing. Which I think, hopefully, will get them lots of girls when they're 15."

Over the years, Cillian Murphy has been hardly photographed with his wife, Yvonne McGuinness. In a rare treat, McGuinness and Murphy embraced and shared a light kiss when he won an Academy Award for his role on "Oppenheimer." In his acceptance speech, Murphy thanked several people, including his wife, McGuinness.

As far as parenting goes, McGuinness does the heavy lifting when Murphy is away at work. It's a contribution to the family that the actor holds in high regard. "I have an amazing wife and I couldn't do this without her and her understanding," Murphy told GQ. "But it is a struggle. I think it is for any dad whose work takes him away, which it generally does, and which consumes him, which my work does."

Once upon a time, life was simpler for the duo before their sons came around. Per The New York Times' 2003 interview, Murphy would spend time at a local bar near their north London residence while waiting for McGuinness to get home.

When Cillian Murphy was filming "The Wind that Shakes the Barley," his wife, Yvonne McGuinness, had a bun in the oven. In December 2005, Cillian and McGuinness had their bundle of joy, Malachy Murphy. Two years later, the couple's second child, Aran Murphy, was born. Despite Cillian's fame, Malachy and Aran, who are in their late teens as of this writing, don't see him as a superstar.

"Most of what I do is highly unsuitable for them," Cillian disclosed in an interview with The Standard. "They're suitably underwhelmed by my work. I'm trying to keep them in that state because it's such a silly industry."

Cillian's efforts to keep his children away from the entertainment space and everything it stands for may be futile after all. His youngest son, Aran, who is a spitting image of the star, is slowly building an acting portfolio. He was cast in the Taika Waititi-directed "Klara and The Sun" and appeared in the 2022 release "Lola."

Although the fast-paced "Disco Pigs" swiftly took Cillian Murphy around the world, his journey on the big and small screens gradually opened up more travel opportunities. "Oppenheimer" was shot in New Mexico, the 2005 thriller "Red Eye" was brought to life in Miami and Los Angeles, and the Christopher Nolan-directed "Inception" was filmed on multiple continents.

Of all the places Murphy has visited, Tokyo exceeded his expectations. "I'd only ever seen it in movies and read about it in books," Murphy said of the East Asian city in a chat with Traveller. "I must have eaten my own body weight in raw fish while I was there and I thought the energy was incredible. It really had an effect on me." Not every place the actor has visited has been phenomenal. Las Vegas, he said, seemed to give the illusion of fulfilling a high that can't be attained.

One city, New York, gives Murphy a replenishment he can't get elsewhere. He told the outlet, "It always energizes me. You come away going, 'YES! I can do anything! I can take over the world!' For a tiny little island, it's quite intoxicating."

Besides being a family man and having a zealous dedication to his craft, Cillian Murphy has a charitable side. He serves as the patron of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre at the University of Galway in his home country, Ireland. Through his role, Murphy has advocated for mental health. In 2015, he lent his voice to a campaign aimed at researching mental wellness amongst the youth in Ballina, a town in the western parts of Ireland. Murphy also brought awareness to statistics surrounding the state of mental soundness within the young LGBTQ community.

In 2020, Murphy was part of the unveiling of a course in empathy spread across schools in Ireland. Two years later, he collaborated with Pat Dolan, the organization's creator, as the editor of a series of stories on empathy compiled under the title "Ionbhá: The Empathy Book for Ireland." Speaking on the work, Murphy told The Financial Times, "We see it as a worldwide project. There's an awful lot of interest in it, and I think it's a critical time for something like this."

Cillian Murphy is not all about work. The celebrated actor knows how to tone things down. In his conversation with Traveller, Murphy said, "For me, no holiday is complete without nice music, a glass of wine, and a good book," and further revealed he'd last read "Don Quixote" by Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes.

When Murphy was asked about books he'd vouch for in a chat with Rolling Stone UK, he mentioned the Booker Prize-winning 2021 publication "Small Things Like These" by Claire Keegan. Murphy played the leading role in the book's Tim Mielants-directed film adaptation, which was released in Germany in early 2024. Another book Murphy gave a nod to was Max Porter's 2023 publication, "Shy," which he said he was drawn to because of its empathetic theme. "You can read both of these books in an afternoon. That's the beauty of them," he said of his top two choices."

Per Cillian Murphy's conversation with The Financial Times, social media is part of the reason an awareness of empathy is needed, due to its divisive nature. "It's very emotionally draining for children or for young people. It takes a lot out of them to be under scrutiny all the time — I can't really imagine that," Murphy told the publication. Murphy has little knowledge about anything to do with the internet. The one place he goes to detach from the world — the Blasket Islands, as told to Traveller — has no electric supply.

It's therefore not surprising that when the actor heard pictures and video footage of him looking dispirited were meme fodder, he first asked NME, "What's a meme?" Nevertheless, Murphy had an explanation for why he appears drained on media tours." These days can be a little long," he said. "Generally, it's a film that you're very proud of and excited about ... but it can be wearing if you do three days of it."