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.
4.92
Popularity71
Credits6.9
Rating90.3M
Budget343M
RevenueActing
Primarily2026 Forbidden 404! as Dead Guy #2
2026 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple as Jim Executive Producer
2025 Steve as Steve Producer
2025 Untitled Prison Film
2025 Blood Runs Coal as Chip Yablonski Producer
2025 The Immortal Man: A Peaky Blinders Film as Thomas 'Tommy' Shelby Producer
2025 28 Years Later Executive Producer
2024 Small Things Like These as Bill Furlong Producer
2024 Once Upon a Time in Hollyweird as (archive footage)
2024 Kensuke's Kingdom as Dad (voice)
2023 The Story of Our Time: The Making of Oppenheimer as Self
2023 Oppenheimer as J. Robert Oppenheimer
2023 Inside Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer as Self - J. Robert Oppenheimer
2021 All of This Unreal Time as Man
2021 A Quiet Place Part II as Emmett
2019 I'm the Man as Narrator
2019 Anna as Lenny Miller
2019 The Irish Revolution as Self - Narrator (voice)
2018 The Overcoat as Akaky (voice)
2018 The Silent Man as The Doll
2018 The Delinquent Season as Jim
2017 The Party as Tom
2017 Dunkirk as Shivering Soldier
2017 Free Fire as Chris
2016 Anthropoid as Josef Gabčík
2016 Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach as Self - Actor
2015 In the Heart of the Sea as Matthew Joy
2015 Atlantic: The Wildest Ocean on Earth as Himself - Narrator
2014 Lennon or McCartney as Self
2014 From the Mountain as Man
2014 Transcendence as Agent Donald Buchanan
2014 Aloft as Ivan
2013 The Fire Rises: The Creation and Impact of The Dark Knight Trilogy as Self (archive footage)
2013 Peaky Blinders as Thomas Shelby
2012 Broken as Mike Kiernan
2012 The Dark Knight Rises as Dr. Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow
2012 Red Lights as Tom Buckley
2011 In Time as Raymond Leon
2011 Retreat as Martin
2010 TRON: Legacy as Edward Dillinger (uncredited)
2010 Inception as Robert Fischer, Jr.
2010 Peacock as John Skillpa / Emma Skillpa
2009 Perrier's Bounty as Michael McCrea
2008 The Dark Knight as Scarecrow
2008 The Edge of Love as William Killick
2008 Waveriders as Narrator
2007 Watching the Detectives as Neil
2007 Sunshine as Capa
2006 The Silent City as Unnamed Character
2006 The Wind That Shakes the Barley as Damien
2006 The Making of 'Red Eye' as Self
2006 Carry On Ken as Self
2005 Breakfast on Pluto as Patrick 'Kitten' Braden
2005 Red Eye as Jackson Rippner
2005 Batman Begins as Dr. Jonathan Crane
2003 Cold Mountain as Bardolph
2003 Girl with a Pearl Earring as Pieter
2003 Intermission as John
2002 28 Days Later as Jim
2001 Disco Pigs as Pig / Darren
2001 How Harry Became a Tree as Gus
2001 On the Edge as Jonathan Breech
2001 Watchmen as Phil Writer
2000 A Man of Few Words as Best Man
2000 Filleann an Feall as Ger
1999 Sunburn as Davin McDerby
1999 Eviction as Brendan McBride
1999 The Trench as Rag Rookwood
1999 At Death's Door as Young Reaper
1999 Sweety Barrett as Pat the Barman
1997 Quando as Pat