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How did Cillian Murphy become a major actor?
Cillian Murphy is far from being done making headlines. After embodying Thomas Shelby in the series Peaky Blinders and winning the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in Oppenheimer, the Irish actor was back as a tormented schoolteacher in Steve. He is now starring in the sequel to cult series Peaky Blinder: The Immoral Man, which will come out on Netflix on March 20th, 2026. Throwback to his brilliant career.
and Alexis Thibault.
Published on 3 October 2025. Updated on 18 March 2026.
An oscar for the Oppenheimer actor
At 49, Cillian Murphy is the man of the hour in cinema. With a hypnotic aura and piercing gaze, his stunning range has made him a must-watch actor, though he has long remained outside leading roles.
Last year, he reached a milestone by winning the Academy Award for Best Actor for his riveting performance in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer at the 96th Oscars held on March 10 2024. A complex and ambiguous role that captivated audiences and critics alike, he portrayed Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb.
Cillian Murphy wasn’t always headed for the big screen
Originally, Cillian Murphy dreamt of being a musician. As a teenager, he was a rock enthusiast and shared his passion with his brother. Eventually, he turned to theater, gaining attention through his roles in Neil LaBute’s The Shape Of Things and the gritty drama Disco Pigs.
Director Danny Boyle was drawn to Murphy’s innocent, almost ethereal looks and cast him in the lead role of the post-apocalyptic thriller 28 Days Later (2002). Playing Jim, a bike courier waking from a coma in a deserted London, Murphy impressed critics. The film was deliberately cast with little-known actors and “blended war film, 70s zombie cinema, and British sci-fi” , according to screenwriter Alex Garland.
In 2006, British filmmaker Ken Loach put Cillian Murphy in the spotlight in the film The Wind That Shakes the Barley, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes. The actor, who shares the same Irish roots as his wife Yvonne McGuinness – they’ve been married for 20 years – portrayed a doctor who joins his brother on the battlefield to fight for the independence of Ireland.
Murphy’s career took a pivotal turn under Christopher Nolan’s direction. Originally considered for the role of Gotham City’s Dark Knight, Nolan ultimately opted for the enigmatic psyche of “machinist” Christian Bale.
Christopher Nolan’s favorite actor
Although initially considered for the role of Batman, Nolan instead cast Christian Bale, but gave Murphy the chilling role of Scarecrow, a nightmare-inducing scientist. He appeared in Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), and Nolan’s dreamscape thriller Inception (2010).
Like fellow performer Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy became one of Christopher Nolan’s favorite actor. He plays in the feature Dunkirk (2017) as a soldier terrorised by the war he participates in. Moreover, he later starred in Oppenheimer (2023), which earned him his first Oscar for Best Actor.
The star of the cult series Peaky Blinders
From 2013 to 2022, Cillian Murphy mesmerised audiences as Thomas Shelby, the charismatic gangster leader of a 1920s Birmingham crime family in the cult series Peaky Blinders. The Peaky Blinders are involved in corruption, rigged horse racing, and wore razor blades sewn into their caps for their own protection. Stylish and ruthless, they were all the more unpredictable.
In order to embody Thomas Shelby, the actor trained extensively. “I’m not a physically imposing person. I had to eat a lot of protein, lift a lot of weights, and do all those things. It took time, which I hated,” Cillian Murphy shared in an interview.
However, his efforts paid off… For many critics and fans alike, Thomas Shelby remains Cillian Murphy’s most iconic role and a showcase of the complexity and nuance of his acting skills.
Small Things Like These, an intense journey
In 2023, Cillian Murphy starred alongside his friend Colin Farrell in Intermission, which won four IFTA Awards, the Irish equivalent of the Academy Awards. He also transformed himself through the lens of Neil Jordan in Breakfast On Pluto, adapted from a novel by Pat McCabe.
In April 2025, the actor was spotted in Small Things Like These, a film adaption of the 2020 novel of the same name by writer Claire Keegan. The Irish author set her fictional story in her native country in 1985. Bill Furlong, a modest coal merchant, tries to keep his business afloat and provide for his family. One day, during a delivery to the town’s convent, he makes a shocking discovery. This long-buried secret forces him to confront his past and the complicit silence of a community living in fear…
For nearly two centuries, behind the thick walls of the Magdalene convents, Ireland kept a state secret that cast a long shadow. A network of religious institutions where thousands of women were subjected to systematic humiliation, erasure, and a routine of labor that had more to do with moral incarceration than with charity. With that film, Belgian director Tim Mielants takes hold of this national wound to craft an intense cinematic work, carried by a profoundly restrained and moving Cillian Murphy. The actor embodies a haunted man, who moves through the narrative like one crosses a moor after a fire.
Thomas Shelby is back on Netflix this year
In September 2025, the prodigious Cillian Murphy took the lead role in Tim Mielants’ latest feature Steve, available now on Netflix. This adaptation of Max Porter’s best-selling novel Shy plunges us into mid-1990s England. The film traces back twenty-four decisive hours in the life of the headmaster of a reform center for juvenile offenders and his residents.
This dramatic, intimate role gives the actor yet another chance to showcase the depth of his craft and the intensity of his gaze. He shares the screen with a new generation of promising actors, including Jay Lycurgo (DC Titans).
This March 2026, the actor once again dons the suit of Thomas Shelby, the British gang leader, for the film Peaky Blinders: The Immortal. The long-awaited sequel to the cult series will hit the platform Netflix on March 20th. A way for the actor to close the chapter on an adventure that has transported him into another dimension.
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man by Tom Harper, coming out on Netflix on March 20th, 2026.
