Cillian Murphy is an Irish actor who has had an extensive career in film, television and stage. Murphy made his professional debut in playwright Enda Walsh's 1996 play Disco Pigs, a role he later reprised in the 2001 screen adaptation. He later made his feature film debut as a bartender in the Irish drama Sweety Barrett (1998). While he found film and theatre work throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, his breakthrough came with his lead role as pandemic survivor Jim in Danny Boyle's horror film 28 Days Later. Other films that followed included Intermission (2003), Red Eye (2005), The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006), and Sunshine (2007). He portrayed a transgender Irish woman in the comedy-drama Breakfast on Pluto (2005), which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. In 2011, Murphy reunited with Walsh in his play Misterman which debuted at the Galway International Arts Festival. Murphy and Walsh continued to collaborate in the latter's own Ballyturk and an adaptation of Max Porter's novel Grief Is the Thing with Feathers. He continued to act in mainstream studio films such as Tron: Legacy (2010), In Time (2011), In the Heart of the Sea (2015), and A Quiet Place Part II (2020), as well as in independent films such as Retreat (2011), Free Fire (2016), The Delinquent Season (2018), and Small Things like These (2024).

Murphy began his collaboration with filmmaker Christopher Nolan in 2005, playing the Scarecrow in The Dark Knight trilogy (2005–2012) as well as appearing in Inception (2010) and Dunkirk (2017). He portrayed J. Robert Oppenheimer in Nolan's Oppenheimer (2023), for which he won several accolades including BAFTA and Academy Award for Best Actor. In addition to his roles in film and theatre, he is known for his role as Tommy Shelby in the BBC period drama series Peaky Blinders (2013–2022), a role he reprised in the feature film Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man (2026), which he also co-produced.

Film +Key Denotes works that have not yet been released

+ YearTitleRoleNotes 1997 Quando Pat Short film 1998 Sweety Barrett Pat the Barman 1999 Eviction Short film At Death's Door Young Reaper Sunburn 2000 Filleann an Feall Ger Short film Best man 2001 On the Edge How Harry Became a Tree Gus Disco Pigs Darren / Pig Watchmen Phil Short film; also co-writer 2002 28 Days Later Jim 2003 Zonad Guy Short film Intermission John Girl with a Pearl Earring Pieter Cold Mountain Bardolph 2005 Batman Begins Red Eye Breakfast on Pluto 2006 Soldier Short film 2007 Sunshine Watching the Detectives 2008 Cameo Waveriders Narrator Voice; Documentary 2009 Perrier's Bounty 2010 Peacock Hippie Hippie Shake Unreleased Inception Tron: Legacy Uncredited cameo 2011 Retreat Martin In Time 2012 Red Lights Broken Cameo 2013 Harriet and the Matches Cat Voice; Short film 2014 Aloft Ivan Transcendence 2015 In the Heart of the Sea 2016 Anthropoid Free Fire Chris 2017 Tom Dunkirk Shivering Soldier 2018 Akaky Voice; Short film Jim 2019 Anna 2020 Emmett 2021 All of This Unreal Time Man Short film 2023 Kensuke's Kingdom Dad Voice Oppenheimer 2024 Small Things like These Also producer 2025 28 Years Later— Executive producer only Steve Steve Also producer 2026 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple Jim Uncredited cameo; also executive producer Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Also producer 2027 Emmett Filming Untitled Damien Chazelle film Inmate Post-production

Television

+ Year(s)TitleRoleNotes 2001 2013–2022 Peaky Blinders Also executive producer 2015 Atlantic: The Wildest Ocean on Earth Narrator Voice; Documentary series

Theatre

+ Year(s) Title Role Venue 1996–1998 Disco Pigs Darren/"Pig" World tour 1998 Much Ado About Nothing Claudio Kilkenny Castle 1999 Curly Town Hall Theatre 1999 Juno and the Paycock Gaiety Theatre 2002 Adam Gate Theatre 2003 Edinburgh International Festival 2004 Town Hall Theatre 2006 Love Song Beane Ambassadors Theatre 2010 From Galway to Broadway and back again. Town Hall Theatre 2011–2012 Misterman Galway Arts FestivalRoyal National TheatreSt. Ann's Warehouse 2014 Ballyturk No. 1 Galway Arts FestivalOlympia TheatreCork Opera HouseRoyal National Theatre 2018–2019 Grief is the Thing with Feathers Crow, Dad Black Box TheatreO'Reilly TheatreBarbican CentreSt. Ann's Warehouse

Music videos

+ YearTitleArtistNotes 2009 Feist 2011 "Winter Beats" I Break Horses 2013 "Hold Me Forever" Money Director only 2015 Paul Hartnoll 2016 "Stages" Voice only 2017 Allred and Broderick Fionn Regan 2022 "Pana-vision" 2026 "Opalite" Taylor Swift Voice and image only

Video games + Year Title Role 2005 Batman Begins 2023 Peaky Blinders: The King's Ransom

See also List of awards and nominations received by Cillian Murphy

References