Cillian Murphy
Acting • Born 1976-05-25
Biography
Cillian Murphy (born May 25, 1976) is an Irish actor. He made his professional debut in Enda Walsh's 1996 play Disco Pigs, a role he later reprised in the 2001 screen adaptation. His early notable film credits include the horror film 28 Days Later (2002), the dark comedy Intermission (2003), the thriller Red Eye (2005), the Irish war drama The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006), and the science fiction thriller Sunshine (2007). He played a transgender Irish woman in the comedy-drama Breakfast on Pluto (2005), which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination. Murphy began collaborating with filmmaker Christopher Nolan in 2005, playing Dr. Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow in The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005–2012) as well as appearing in Inception (2010) and Dunkirk (2017) and portraying the lead role of J. Robert Oppenheimer in the biographical epic Oppenheimer (2023). By the year 2023, Murphy has already worked with Nolan for around 20 years and six films. He also gained prominence for his role as Tommy Shelby in the BBC period drama series Peaky Blinders (2013–2022) and for starring in the horror sequel A Quiet Place Part II (2020). In 2011, Murphy won the Irish Times Theatre Award for Best Actor and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance for the one-man play Misterman. In 2020, The Irish Times named him one of the greatest Irish film actors.
Filmography
86 credits
The Dark Knight
Movie • 2008
Scarecrow
28 Days Later
Movie • 2002
Jim
Batman Begins
Movie • 2005
Dr. Jonathan Crane
The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Movie • 2006
Damien
Sunshine
Movie • 2007
Capa
Breakfast on Pluto
Movie • 2005
Patrick 'Kitten' Braden
Oppenheimer
Movie • 2023
J. Robert Oppenheimer
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man
Movie • 2026
Thomas 'Tommy' Shelby
Cold Mountain
Movie • 2003
Bardolph
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Movie • 2003
Pieter
Watching the Detectives
Movie • 2007
Neil
Peacock
Movie • 2010
John Skillpa / Emma Skillpa
Red Eye
Movie • 2005
Jackson Rippner
The Trench
Movie • 1999
Rag Rookwood
The Silent City
Movie • 2006
Unnamed Character
Disco Pigs
Movie • 2001
Pig / Darren
Inception
Movie • 2010
Robert Fischer, Jr.
Perrier's Bounty
Movie • 2009
Michael McCrea
The Edge of Love
Movie • 2008
William Killick
Small Things Like These
Movie • 2024
Bill Furlong
Sunburn
Movie • 1999
Davin McDerby
Intermission
Movie • 2003
John
The Dark Knight Rises
Movie • 2012
Dr. Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow
In Time
Movie • 2011
Raymond Leon
On the Edge
Movie • 2001
Jonathan Breech
Retreat
Movie • 2011
Martin
The Irish Revolution
Movie • 2019
Self - Narrator (voice)
Red Lights
Movie • 2012
Tom Buckley
Broken
Movie • 2012
Mike Kiernan
How Harry Became a Tree
Movie • 2002
Gus
Transcendence
Movie • 2014
Agent Donald Buchanan
Inside Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer
Movie • 2023
Self - J. Robert Oppenheimer
In the Heart of the Sea
Movie • 2015
Matthew Joy
Aloft
Movie • 2014
Ivan
Steve
Movie • 2025
Steve
Free Fire
Movie • 2017
Chris
Filleann an Feall
Movie • 2000
Ger
Watchmen
Movie • 2001
Phil
TRON: Legacy
Movie • 2010
Edward Dillinger (uncredited)
A Man of Few Words
Movie • 2000
Best Man
At Death's Door
Movie • 1999
Young Reaper
Eviction
Movie • 1999
Brendan McBride
Anthropoid
Movie • 2016
Josef Gabčík
Blood Runs Coal
Movie
Chip Yablonski
Sweety Barrett
Movie • 1999
Pat the Barman
Atlantic: The Wildest Ocean on Earth
Movie • 2015
Himself - Narrator
Dunkirk
Movie • 2017
Shivering Soldier
Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach
Movie • 2016
Self - Actor
The Party
Movie • 2017
Tom
The Delinquent Season
Movie • 2018
Jim
Anna
Movie • 2019
Lenny Miller
The Overcoat
Movie • 2018
Akaky (voice)
Kensuke's Kingdom
Movie • 2024
Dad (voice)
A Quiet Place Part II
Movie • 2021
Emmett
Waveriders
Movie • 2008
Narrator
I'm the Man
Movie • 2019
Narrator
Peaky Blinders: A Peek Behind the Curtain
Movie
Thomas Shelby / Tommy / Himself
Carry On Ken
Movie • 2006
Self
All of This Unreal Time
Movie • 2021
Man
Lennon or McCartney
Movie • 2014
Self
The Silent Man
Movie • 2018
The Doll
From the Mountain
Movie • 2014
Man
Quando
Movie • 1997
Pat
Untitled Damien Chazelle/Prison Movie
Movie
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
Movie • 2026
Jim
Misterman
Movie • 2011
Thomas Magill
The Water
Movie • 2009
The Son
Harriet and the matches
Movie
Cat (voice)
The Meetings of the water
Movie
Man
28 Years Later Part 3
Movie
Jim
Fight for First: Excel Esports
TV • 2021
Narrator
The Way We Live Now
TV • 2001
Paul Montague
Peaky Blinders
TV • 2013
Thomas Shelby
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
TV • 2005
Self
Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self - Nominee
Late Night with Seth Meyers
TV • 2014
Self
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
TV • 2003
Self
60 Minutes
TV • 1968
Self
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
TV • 2014
Self
The Oscars
TV • 1953
Self
The Irish Revolution
TV • 2019
Self - Narrator (voice)
A World of Calm
TV • 2020
Narrator
The Oscars
TV • 1953
Self - Presenter
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
TV • 2015
Self - Guest
The Graham Norton Show
TV • 2007
Self
Late Night with Seth Meyers
TV • 2014
Self - Guest