Cillian Murphy Movies and TV Shows

Cillian Murphy quite literally wandered into acting by knocking on a door and auditioning for the play Disco Pigs. He appeared in Irish and British film and stage productions through the late 1990s, before catching the eye of director Danny Boyle in the post-apocalyptic thriller 28 Days Later.Cillian Murphy Movies and TV Shows

Peaky Blinders

In this BBC TV series, Murphy plays the fierce, coarse 1910s gangster Tommy Shelby. He’s a ruthless leader of the family-run crime operation in Birmingham, but also struggles with PTSD. Murphy expertly captures the gangster’s grave exterior while revealing a softer side.

After his breakout performance in 2002’s zombie horror film 28 Days Later, Murphy starred in a number of films including the thriller Red Eye and the Irish war drama The Wind That Shakes the Barley. He’s also been a regular on the stage, where he made his professional debut in Enda Walsh’s play Disco Pigs.

Other notable movies and tv shows featuring Cillian Murphy include the war film Dunkirk, where he played an injured soldier, and the sci-fi flick Inception. But it’s Peaky Blinders that arguably put him on the map as one of the world’s greatest actors. It follows the Birmingham-based crime family and their rise through the business of bookmaking after the First World War.

The Wind That Shakes the Barley

In this period drama, Murphy stars as brothers Damien and Teddy O’Donovan in the story of Irish independence. The film received the Palme d’Or award at Cannes Film Festival and was a major breakout for the actor. It also helped launch his relationship with director Christopher Nolan, which would lead to roles in Batman Begins, Intermission, The Dark Knight trilogy, and the 2023 biopic Oppenheimer.

In addition to the big-budget films, Murphy has often starred in smaller projects. He was the lead in the thriller Aloft (2014), as well as the dystopian science fiction film Transcendence (2015). He also starred in the war movie Anthropoid (2016) and the political thriller Free Fire (2017).

Known for his intense, unflinching performances, Murphy has earned the respect of critics and fans alike. He’s appeared in a number of iconic movies and TV shows, including Peaky Blinders, Inception, and Dunkirk. He’s also played villains like Dr. Jonathan Crane (the Scarecrow) in Batman Begins and Jackson Rippner in the disaster flick Red Eye.

Inception

In Inception, Murphy joined a star-studded cast for director Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending thriller about world-building and espionage in dreams. He plays Robert Fischer, the heir to a multi-billion dollar empire who is the target of DiCaprio’s dream team. His shivering expressions convey the emotional collapse of a man who has seen horrors beyond his comprehension and resorts to heated violence for self-preservation.

The film was inspired by movies like The Matrix, Dark City, and Memento, which explore the concept that the world around you might not be real. It was one of Nolan’s most challenging projects, and required a massive budget.

Before Inception, Murphy starred in Wes Craven’s airplane thriller Red Eye (2005) and Ken Loach’s drama The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006). He then startled audiences as the unhinged supervillain Scarecrow in Batman Begins and reprised the role for The Dark Knight Rises.

Oppenheimer

As he has in his other five films with Nolan, Murphy is impressive as Oppenheimer. He captures the inner life of a man who worked feverishly to create a weapon of mass destruction. The film uses close-up after close-up to show the squinting, tense face of an absent-minded scientist who was lost in his own ideas and fantasies.

The film jumps between different timelines, but a significant portion of the movie takes place in 1954 as the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission holds a security hearing to investigate whether or not Oppenheimer was a Soviet spy. This is where RDJ plays Lewis Strauss, who was at odds with Oppenheimer for a variety of reasons.

The rest of the cast includes Nolan regulars such as Emily Blunt and Matt Damon, plus Florence Pugh, Rami Malek, Josh Hartnett, Kenneth Branagh, and Dane DeHaan. It is based on the book American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin and was written, directed, and produced by nolan read more here.