Cillian Murphy is now an Oscar-winning actor and one of the biggest actors in the world. From small Indie films in the early 2000s to working with some of the biggest filmmakers in the world, what films put Cillian into the spotlight and pushed him into the stardom he has achieved now?
28 Days Later
28 Days Later was a surprise hit in the early 2000s. Coming out in late 2002 the zombie film was a very terrifying and realistic depiction of what the apocalypse would look like and how it would affect the UK. Cillian Murphy played the lead and this was his breakthrough role, the film did 10x its budget at the box office and became a hit in America. When the film started to be a success in America, Cillian Murphy won a breakthrough male performance at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards and this was the start of his global stardom.
Peaky Blinders
Peaky Blinders was a massive success and Cillian Murphy was the lead, the show ran for six seasons and Cillian was the heart and soul of the show. The success that Cillian got for the show and the acting chops he showed made it feel like the projection of his career was only upwards.
Peaky Blinders was a drama series that followed a Birmingham gang after the First World War. Some of the main plot points take place around the Horse races, which would not happen now as a lot of bettors use Boylesports to see tomorrow’s horse racing cards instead of going to horse races in person.
His Affect On UK Actors
Firstly, we would like to say that Cillian is Irish and winning the Oscar as an Irish man is a massive thing for the country, with acting across the UK getting bigger and better with every year, the future of the UK acting scene is in safe hands. Actors like Cillian Murphy, Daniel Kaluuya and Robert Pattinson are the present and the future of British actors, and we are expecting a massive increase in award-winning actors who are British-born.
Christopher Nolan
Christopher Nolan is probably the most influential person in Cillian Murphy’s career. Giving him roles in the Dark Knight trilogy, Inception and most recently Oppenheimer. Christopher Nolan has given Cillian Murphy the most success of his career, Oppenheimer being the most recent and the biggest as Cillian won Best Actor in a Leading Role at the Oscars and this is a special accolade for the Cork-born actor.
The start of Cillian Murphy in the limelight for American audiences also started with Christopher Nolan, the previously mentioned Dark Knight trilogy started with Cillian Murphy being the villain of the first film. Originally Cillian was testing for Batman and he did a screen test for Batman but Nolan knew he was not right for the role although he knew he was perfect for the Scarecrow and this was the start of his Hollywood journey.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Cillian Murphy is a fantastic actor and will continue to perform and be one of the best working actors today. Now with the Oscar win under his belt, he will continue to get the biggest roles and he will be remembered as an impressive actor who has gone down in history for his iconic performance as Robert Oppenheimer. He was already a massive deal but now with the global success and the awards Oppenheimer won, we can only see a positive career for the star.
About the Author/s
The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.
