Cillian Murphy’s best performances and where to watch them

For more than two decades, Cillian Murphy has been one of the film industry’s most respected character actors, and also has proven himself several times as a leading man in ensemble casts. Because of this, it’s no surprise that his recent role in Christopher Nolan’s film Oppenheimer got him his first Academy Award nomination. In a way, it was only a matter of time before the industry got the chance to honor his talent and the commitment he has to his roles.

Based on critical reception, here’s a list of Cillian Murphy best acting roles, including the acclaimed BBC drama Peaky Blinders, which he led for more than 10 years.

28 Days Later

Considered one of the best horror films of the 21st century, this film directed by Danny Boyle has been credited to revive the zombie genre and showed Cillian Murphy’s acting skills to a massive audience. He plays a bicycle courier who, after an accident, falls into a coma and wakes up after a virus is unleashed in Great Britain.

Murphy talked about the movie during the Covid-19 pandemic, which increased its popularity. “I never watch my own films, except that one. It’s always on around Halloween, and during the pandemic people were constantly sending me clips. And I’ve shown it to my kids. And it’s really stood up, even though it’s something like 23 years old now.”

Where to watch: Sling

Breakfast on Pluto

Another of Murphy’s first leading roles was in this Neil Jordan comedy-drama which focuses on a transgender woman foundling looking for her mother in Ireland and London during the 1970s. Playing this complicated character earned him the Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actor and nominations for the Golden Globes and the Satellite Awards, bringing more attention to his talent.

On his role, he told BlackFilm: “I had read the book before I was ever an actor. I think actors talk about the role of the lifetime and I would very happily say that applied to this role. Neil Jordan is one of my favorite directors. Not just because he’s Irish and I’m Irish. In the world of directors he’s one of those guys (that I love).”

Where to watch: Roku Channel, Prime Video

Sunshine

Danny Boyle reunited with Cillian Murphy for this sci-fi psychological thriller written by Alex Garland, which follows a group of astronauts on a mission to reignite the dying Sun. For his role, Murphy worked with physicist Brian Cox — who later praised his performance, to learn about advanced physics and accurately portray a physicist.

He leads an ensemble cast that includes Chris Evans, Rose Byrne, Michelle Yeoh and Benedict Wong, with whom he worked with closely. “You really believe that they’ve been traveling together in space for however long”, he told Ian Winterton during an interview. “We wanted to get that sense as well so the best way to do that, other than actually acting it is to live together and then let the experience inform the performance. We all lived together and ate and cooked and drank together.”

Where to watch: On demand on YouTube, Google Play and more

Christopher’s Nolan Batman Trilogy

Before Christian Bale was selected to play the iconic Bruce Wayne/Batman, Cillian Murphy auditioned for the role. Despite not getting the big part, he was then cast as Dr. Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow, the first film’s main villain who is an unstable psychiatrist with ties to the underground criminal world.

When asked if he would’ve taken the role without Christopher Nolan’s involvement, he replied: “No, I wouldn’t have done them. I wouldn’t have done them if the script wasn’t good. If you give a mediocre script to Chris Nolan or Neil Jordan, they’re never going to make it a masterpiece unless the script is good.” This marked the first collaboration between the actor and the director.

Where to watch: Max

Inception

On another of Christopher Nolan’s biggest projects, Murphy played the son of a wealthy businessman. Within the plot, the main characters must enter his dreams and plant an idea in order to influence his future. Despite being a sci-fi film, Nolan decided to avoid CGI and used practical effects to make the audience feel immersed into the story. “His films are so visceral, and have such kind of honesty to them, because most of the stuff you’re seeing actually happened,” he later said about working with the director one more time.

Where to watch: Hulu

Dunkirk

Another collaboration between Christopher Nolan and Cillian Murphy came in this story about the Dunkirk evacuation during World War II. The director manages to tell three different stories about the event, taking time in different timelines.

Murphy plays an unnamed shell-shocked soldier who tries to stop a civilian boat from sailing toward Dunkirk. Although the part is small and even nameless, it’s one of the most important roles in the movie. According to the actor: “The character represents all those men that came back from the conflict mentally destroyed, so I felt a great sort of sense of responsibility to portray the character sensitively and I did a bit of reading about it.”

Where to watch: Hulu, Prime Video

Peaky Blinders

This BBC period crime drama became a worldwide phenomenon because of the screenwriting of creator Steven Knight and the massive ensemble cast that included a long list of legendary British actors, young and old, led by Cillian Murphy in possibly his most complicated character.

After more than 10 years of playing the character, he said that it was never easy getting into character each year, considering how different its personality was from his. He told the BBC: “It’s definitely always a journey. It’s such a distance for me as a character and it takes an awful lot of time to get back there.”

He also told Entertainment Weekly: “There was always a long period of myself and Steve and the director sitting around together and going over the scripts and then conditioning to get into shape again. And the accent’s not an easy accent, so I’d always have to refresh the accent every year. It’s not one of those ones you can get out of the car and you’re ready. It’s a lot of work.”

Where to watch: Netflix

Oppenheimer

Cillian Murphy performing as the father of the atomic bomb, Robert J. Oppenheimer, could be the most impressive acting he has delivered in his entire career. The actor manages to give to the audience the full nuance of the complex character, from the awkward and haunted young adult to a committed leader of a world-saving project and finally a tormented martyr.

Although Murphy shares the screen with some of today’s best actors, he still has a dominant presence on screen. He has highlighted the complexity of getting into the part but the pleasure of working with the cast. “For me, it was exhilarating every day — because I was on pretty much every day — you’d get to work with these extraordinary actors and it would just lift you up.” He received his first Academy Award nomination for his performance.

Where to watch: Peacock

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition