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Cillian Murphy
Cillian Murphy in a promo shot for Sunshine
Birth name	Cillian Murphy
Born	May 25, 1976 Douglas, Cork, Ireland
Spouse(s)	artist Yvonne McGuinness
Notable roles	Jim in 28 Days Later, Jackson in Red Eye, Dr. Crane/Scarecrow in Batman Begins, Patrick/Patricia/Kitten Braden in Breakfast on Pluto

Cillian Murphy (Irish: Cillian Ó Murchú, May 25, 1976) is an Irish actor known for his distinctively blue eyes[4] and intense performances. Cillian is an Irish name which is anglicised Killian; both spellings are pronounced "Killyann" (though the former spelling is often mispronounced "Sillian"). He is best known for his roles as Jim in 28 Days Later, The Scarecrow in Batman Begins and Jackson Rippner in Red Eye. His most lauded performance was as Patrick "Kitten" Braden in Breakfast on Pluto, for which he received his first IFTA Award and first Golden Globe Award nomination.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Trivia 5 Filmography 6 Credits as a stage actor 7 References 8 External links

Murphy was born in Douglas, Cork in Ireland. He attended the Presentation Brothers College, Cork, and later studied law at University College Cork (UCC). Initially his interest in performing was led by music. He played guitar with a Frank Zappa influenced band called Sons of Mr. Greengenes. However, by the time he left college his primary interest was acting. His first major role was in the UCC Drama Society production of Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme. He went on to appear on the professional stage in Disco Pigs, directed by Pat Kiernan and written by Enda Walsh.

After touring with Disco Pigs in London, Edinburgh and Cork, he left UCC without graduating.

Disco Pigs was Murphy's first big break. He was cast in the central role of Pig in Corcadorca's 1996 production of Enda Walsh's original play. He later reprised that role for the 2001 independent film version by Kirsten Sheridan, also writing and singing the song "So New" for the soundtrack.

From 1997 to 2002, Murphy starred in feature films, shorts, plays and in the BBC mini-series adaptation of The Way We Live Now, but it was not until Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later became a sleeper hit in the USA in 2003, that the major movie studios and directors started to take notice. As for the actor's full-frontal nudity in the film, Murphy claimed he was perfectly comfortable doing nudity if the role called for it.

In 2003, he starred alongside Colin Farrell in the Irish indie Intermission and had supporting roles in his first Hollywood films, Girl with a Pearl Earring and Cold Mountain. 2005 was the year that brought Murphy to wider recognition with his performance as Dr. Jonathan Crane/supervillain The Scarecrow in Batman Begins and his role as bad guy Jackson Rippner in Red Eye. Murphy received a nomination for the Best Villain honor at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards for his performance in Batman Begins, but lost to Hayden Christensen for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

He originally auditioned for the role of Batman (Bruce Wayne) in Batman Begins. Though the part was eventually given to Christian Bale, director Christopher Nolan was reportedly very impressed with Murphy's audition and persuaded him to take the role of Crane. It is not known if the character of Dr. Crane will appear in the upcoming sequel, though Murphy has stated that he would be glad to reprise the character if asked.

According to Entertainment Weekly magazine, he was #3 of "The Most Valuable Players of Summer 2005", a list for entertainers who have outstanding breakthrough performances for the year 2005. He was placed behind Terrence Howard and Matt Dillon. The magazine went on to compare him with Robert Mitchum.

In late 2005, he starred as a transgendered orphan in search of his mother in Neil Jordan's Breakfast on Pluto, based on the novel of the same title by Patrick McCabe. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in Musical or Comedy for this movie (Joaquin Phoenix won for Walk the Line), but won the 2006 IFTA Award.

In 2006 / 2007, he starred in Ken Loach's film about the Irish War of Independence and Civil War, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, another movie in which his performance was highly praised. The film won the Palme d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, and replaced Intermission as the most successful independent film in Irish history.

Murphy recently finished playing the lead role in John Kolvenbach's play Love Song, opposite Neve Campbell, in London's West End. In 2007, he stars as a physicist-astronaut charged with re-igniting the sun in the sci-fi movie Sunshine, which re-teams him with director Danny Boyle. He will also be seen in the forth-coming romantic comedy, Watching the Detectives, opposite Lucy Liu.

Murphy just signed on to start filming The Best Time of Our Lives with Keira Knightley, Lindsay Lohan and Matthew Rhys in Wales in May 2007.

Murphy is known for being intensely private about his personal life. He married his long term girlfriend, Yvonne McGuinness (b. 1972), in August 2004 in Provence, France. The couple live in London, England, with their son Malachy (b. December 4, 2005).

• Murphy is the the oldest of four children. He has a brother named Páidi and two sisters named Sile and Orla. ^[1]
• Although he is a vegetarian, he learned to chop up meat in an abattoir for his role as a butcher in Girl with a Pearl Earring.^[2]
• Favorite horror movie is Stephen King's The Shining.
• His idols include Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Meryl Streep, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. ^[2]
• Is friends with fellow Irish actors Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Colin Farrell and Liam Neeson. Murphy has said that he looks up to Neeson like a surrogate movie dad.^[1]
• Aside from English, Murphy is also fluent in French and Irish.^[1]
• Murphy was originally raised Catholic before becoming agnostic. He later became a full atheist after researching his role as a physicist in Sunshine. ^[3]

• Quando (1997) ... as Pat
• The Tale of Sweety Barrett (1998) ... as Pat the Barman
• Eviction (1999) ... as Brendan McBride
• At Death's Door (1999) ... as The Grim Reaper, Jr.
• Sunburn (1999) ... as Davin McDerby
• The Trench (1999)... as Rag Rockwood
• Filleann an Feall (also known as The Treachery Returns) (2000) ... as Ger
• A Man of Few Words (2000) ... as Best Man
• On the Edge (2001) ... as Jonathan Breech
• How Harry Became a Tree (2001) ... as Gus
• Disco Pigs (2001) ... as Darren/Pig
• The Way We Live Now (2001) (mini series) ... as Paul Montague
• Watchmen (2001) ... as Phil
• 28 Days Later (2002) ... as Jim
• Zonad (2003) ... as Guy Hendrickson
• Intermission (2003) ... as John
• Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) ... as Pieter
• Cold Mountain (2003) ... as Bardolph
• Batman Begins (2005) ... as Dr. Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow
• Red Eye (2005) ... as Jackson Rippner
• Breakfast on Pluto (2005) ... as Patrick Braden/Kitten
• The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006) ... as Damien O'Donovan
• The Silent City (2006)
• Sunshine (2007) ... as Robert Capa
• Watching the Detectives (2007) ... as Neil

• Disco Pigs by Enda Walsh. Played Pig/Darren. Produced by Corcadorca Theatre Company from 1996 and 1997 including a world tour that took in the UK and Australia. Directed by Pat Kiernan.
• Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare. Played Claudio. Produced by the Bickerstaffe Theatre Company for the Kilkenny Arts Festival. Directed by Maeliosa Stafford and John O'Hare in 1998.
• The Country Boy by John Murphy. Played Curly. Produced by Druid Theatre Company and directed by Garry Hynes in 1999
• Juno and the Paycock by Sean O'Casey. Played Johnny Boyle. Co-Produced by the Druid Theatre Company and the Gaiety Theatre. Directed by Garry Hynes in 2000.
• The Shape of Things by Neil LaBute. Played Adam. Produced by the Gate Theatre in 2002. Directed by Michael Craven.
• The Seagull by Anton Chekov. Played Konstantine. Produced by the Edinburgh International Festival and the Russian Drama Theatre of Riga in 2003. Directed by Peter Stein
• Playboy of the Western World by John M. Synge. Played Christy Mahon from February to April 2004. Produced by Druid Theatre Company and the Gaiety Thatre. Directed by Garry Hynes.
• Love Song by John Kolvenbach. Played Beane. Produced by the New Ambassadors Theatre and directed by John Crowley from December 2006 to March 2007

• Cillian Murphy at the Internet Movie Database
• The CillianSite Fansite with comprehensive biographical and filmography sections
• The Knights of Cillian's County
• Radio interview with Cillian Murphy from FBi 94.5 Sydney Australia