Eight Reasons To Love Cillian Murphy

Posted in Films, Kiss Me I'm Irish |

4. Although he is at heart, an actor, he has movie star looks.
Film is a visual medium, so like it or not, an actor’s success will often depend on his good looks, or lack thereof. And yes, Cillian Murphy has good looks and sex appeal to spare. He could easily play a string of shallow pretty boys and heartbreakers, but he doesn’t, seeming to want to create a career based on talent, not TMZ headlines.

At the Toronto International Film Festival
Premiere of Perrier’s Bounty, 2009

3. He has not “gone Hollywood.”
In fact, Cillian Murphy and his family live in London, one of the few personal details about him that is public knowledge. You don’t see his name in celebrity tabloids; there’s no gossip about him “lunching with George Clooney” or “shopping with Diddy.” By all accounts he detests paparazzi, doesn’t like people photographing his wife or children, and keeps his private life private.

The Wind That Shakes The Barley, 2006

2. He is not a pretentious movie star.
Ultimately, this fiercely guarded privacy makes Cillian Murphy that much more compelling as an actor. There are no salacious scandals to distract us from the character he is portraying. He does not rely on a pompous or actor-y kind of acting, in which discussions of his “craft” overshadow his actual craft.

As Damien in The Wind That Shakes The Barley, Cillian Murphy is the ultimate everyman, surrounded by known actors as well as unknown ones. His character must make terrible choices that eventually lead to awful consequences and unbearable sacrifices. When watching the film, however, you don’t think, “Wow, that’s good acting.” You are too wrapped up in the gut wrenching drama of it all to remember that it’s only a movie.

The Wind That Shakes The Barley, 2006

1. He doesn’t disappear into the character, he IS the character.
Although some of his peers (Christian Bale, Edward Norton) might utilize Method techniques to inhabit their roles, Cillian Murphy just becomes someone else. Although this quality is found in every one of his films, from the heavy to the lighthearted, perhaps the most magical example can be found in Breakfast on Pluto: he plays a male-bodied trans woman (Patrick) who looks like and lives as a woman (Kitten). Not only that, he makes Kitten come alive. You believe that not only is Cillian Murphy Kitten, you believe that Kitten is real.

It’s often difficult to find new ways of conveying the effect that art has on the psyche. There are plenty of shopworn phrases that don’t quite reach the heights that you feel inside. Interestingly, it’s the real human-ness of Cillian Murphy as an actor that makes his star shine so brightly.

In a comment on IMDB about Cillian Murphy’s role in Watching The Detectives, someone named LN explains what makes him so special, mentioning the “real life guy vibe he emanates” without relying on the kinds of stereotypes “so many so-called actors will pull on over themselves like a coat.” Instead, LN continues, he “fill[s] up his character from the ground up, and it feels so natural.”

I could not agree more.

All images from The CillianSite.com.

RELATED LINKS:

Cillian’s Bounty: Toronto International Film Festival, Popshifter September/October 2009 issue

Review of Perrier’s Bounty, Popshifter September/October 2009 issue

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