Murphy was born May 25, 1976, in Douglas, Cork, Ireland. For work, Murphy’s father was a school inspector, while his mother taught French. With one brother and two sisters, Murphy is the eldest of four children. He began his studies at the Presentation Brothers College, Cork, but it was never school that drew Murphy’s attention. Rather, it was rock music that proved to be Murphy’s first calling, and he composed, played guitar, and sang for the band The Sons of Mr. Greengenes. His sister was also part of the band.
Although they were offered a recording contract in 1996, they ultimately turned it down. Murphy’s sister was still in school, which caused their parents' hesitation, and the contract itself promised little money and was predicated on Murphy relinquishing rights to his compositions.
With that opportunity turned down, Murphy changed directions entirely. But it didn’t take long to realize his next endeavor wasn’t right either. Studying law at University College Cork, Murphy failed out his first year. While the legal profession didn’t pan out, he did see a stage version of A Clockwork Orange at UCC that sparked his interest.
Shortly after, Murphy got his first professional acting gig with the play Disco Pigs. Landing the role in 1996, the play was a surprise success and toured both Europe and Canada for the next two years, prompting Murphy to drop university altogether.
His onscreen debut came in 1997 with a small film entitled Quando. The film, although never receiving wide release, won the Audience Award at the Cork International Film Festival. For the next several years, Murphy continued making smaller Irish or English films. He worked with Brendan Gleeson in The Tale of Sweety Barrett in 1998, as well as Daniel Craig in The Trench in 1999. In 2001, he appeared in another Audience Award winner, On the Edge, which premiered at the Dinard British Film Festival. Murphy starred opposite Tricia Vessey, Stephen Rea, and Jonathan Jackson. 2001 brought the film festival darling, How Harry Became a Tree, and a film reprisal of his first on-stage role with Disco Pigs. It also brought The Way We Live Now, a well-received British television mini-series.
But it was 2002 that made Murphy a star with his role in Danny Boyle’s thriller 28 Days Later. He gained even more attention with the 2003 films Girl with a Pearl Earring, starring Colin Firth, Scarlett Johansson, and Tom Wilkinson; and Cold Mountain, with Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, Renee Zellweger, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Giovanni Ribisi, and Donald Sutherland.
The year 2005, however, was commercially and critically his breakout year. After auditioning for the role of Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins, director Christopher Nolan asked him instead to play Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow, to which he obliged. Co-starring with Christian Bale, Katie Holmes, Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Ken Watanabe, and Gary Oldman, the film was a sensational success. This helped him transition seamlessly into the Wes Craven directed Red Eye, with Rachel McAdams and Brian Cox, as well as his most critically lauded role in Neil Jordan’s Breakfast on Pluto.
He was similarly praised for his work in the 2006 film The Wind that Shakes the Barley. Currently, he can be seen in the Boyle directed sci-fi thriller Sunshine and the comedy Watching the Detectives, with Lucy Liu.
Murphy married his longtime girlfriend, Yvonne McGuiness, in August 2004. They are currently still together and have one son, born December 4, 2005.
Let us know of updates to the Cillian Murphy biography at editor@yuddy.com
