Rising to the Challenge
tMF celebrates the artistry and talent of Cillian Murphy!
by Jed Medina

Actors like Cillian Murphy are a rare breed. For many, it has become common practice to succumb to the dictates of their agent and appear as a hero in some predictable sugary and often mediocre movie.

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Few actors like Murphy would go to the deep end and perform in exactly the opposite way - as an anti-hero perhaps - someone who is therefore more human and more real than the tired number mentioned above.

Some defining roles: No one can possibly describe Murphy's acting resume as ordinary.

As Kitten in Breakfast On Pluto, Cillian plays a transvestite and a terror-suspect who travels to London in search of his identity. Many have taken on the challenge of playing a female character, but Murphy's performance is quite extraordinary due to its sincerity. It was as if he took on the role not as a challenge to his sexuality - he seems to be quite aware of who he is - but for the freedom it gave him in exploring the opposite sex.

"There's a long history in film of men dressing as women, but I wanted to have a complete blank canvas and try to invent something new," he said in an interview with Film Focus. Aside from his own way of researching the role, it was Neil Jordan's insistence that provided the impetus to do something uniquely his own...

"Neil said, "Go and treat yourself like a lady," which I did. It involved buying a lot of products and getting facials and massages and just thinking about stuff that most men generally don't think about."

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(youtube video featuring Cillian Murphy in an interview, for the film Breakfast on Pluto)

There was an interview conducted by Jenny Halper that provided us with a deeper insight into Cillian's take on his role as Kitten, excerpt follows:

Cillian Murphy makes a gorgeous girl, but that’s not the only reason Neil Jordan’s “Breakfast on Pluto” is worth seeing. Starring as Patrick ‘Kitten’ Braden, the actor - now best known as Scarecrow in “Batman Begins”- gives a career defining performance that’s both femme fatale and offbeat action hero. Embarking on a transsexual journey to Oz (the wizard is his long lost mother), Kitty sings with flamboyant band, performs bloody tricks with a lovelorn magician (Stephen Rea) and even gets accused of an IRA bombing.

In person, Murphy is intensely private, surprisingly soft-spoken and- even more surprisingly- clad simply in jeans and an alligator tee. An outfit, I’m willing to wager, Kitten wouldn’t have approved.

Q: What was it that inspired you to take this role?

CILLIAN: I had read the book before I was an actor. I think actors talk about the role of the lifetime and I would very happily say that applied to this role. Neil Jordan is one of my favorite directors. Not just because he's Irish and I'm Irish. In the world of directors, he's one of those guys. So it was all of those things and also the fear that I couldn't possibly do that. If you come to a character and say 'Yeah, I can do this,' then you're in trouble.

[ more of this interview ]

Another defining role was in Danny Boyle's apocalyptic thriller 28 Days Later. As cycle courier Jim, Murphy's acting career was given a big boost as the movie became one of 2002's biggest hits, and almost certainly one of the most talked about.

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Controversial as it may seem to many as a result of the frontal nudity Murphy did in the opening scene, the gripping thriller still had everyone on the edge of their seats throughout. One thing is for sure, Murphy is capable of attracting an audience to the box office.

In Ken Loach's 'The Wind that Shakes the Barley' it was back to Ireland again and to the conflicts of war and the occupation by the British. In this award-winning film, Murphy played Damien, one of two brothers who were separated by ideology as they took up arms and prepared to do battle with the British Black and Tan squads in 1919. This period film won the Palm d'Or at Cannes and has generated much reaction from the British conservatives. One critic even went out of his way to denounce its historical accuracy. However, the negative reaction was confined to Britain as the film enjoyed positive reviews everywhere else. Although it is based on fictional characters, some have noted similarities to a number of historical figures who played significant parts in the Irish conflict.

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Scene Stealer: Murphy's acting range is not limited to leading roles. He has also been a strong performer in a number of supporting roles, including Girl with a Pearl Earring (where he plays Pieter who falls for Scarlet Johansen's Griet) or as the Scarecrow in the widely acclaimed Batman Begins. In Anthony Minghella's Cold Mountain he played a Union soldier and managed to steal the scene from the lead actors. Even in Red Eye, where he played a devious character, he continued to weave his magic.

But his notable performances in all of these films were the result of early dabblings in the theatre. For Disco Pigs, the play written by Enda Walsh, he left his law studies to go on tour around the UK with the production. His portrayal of the teenager 'Pig', whose life revolves around his relationship with 'Runt' (played by Elaine Cassidy), is forceful and intense. As the infatuation becomes an obsession, he goes from awestruck to violent and attacks anyone who flirts with his girl.

This was more than just a defining role for Murphy. It eventually became one of his most highly regarded films. Directed by Kirsten Sheridan, Murphy reprised his role as 'Pig' to critical acclaim.

What to Expect: It has been said that when Murphy auditioned for the lead role in Batman Begins, director Christopher Nolan was impressed by the actor. While most of his acclaimed films have been independently produced, Murphy has been noted to relish performing in Hollywood productions as well.

"You can make wonderful films within a small, independent environment and you can make wonderful films in Los Angeles as well, within the studio system. You hear a lot of actors saying, "I'd never go to Hollywood and sell out," But, if it's a good script and a good director, why not? To shut one off completely is, I think, very limiting for an actor."

The Last Word

' Acting wasn't a dream I'd had since I was six years of age and, when I started out, I didn't think I was in it for the long run. I was just a total interloper having a blast. Then I realized it was something I could do for a living, and do for the rest of my life, and I got very serious about it. I pick and choose my films very carefully. There's nothing I've done so far that I can't talk about with commitment and passion.

Spotlight on Cillian Murphy was written by Jed Medina and Kathleen Sydenham, with excerpts taken from various interviews, and reviews of his films mostly from amazon.com and IMDb.

Comments (4)

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BIG FAN!
written by Lukas Jamieson, July 12, 2007

One big Cillian Murphy fan here! another top list:

Murphy is one talented actor! I think his range is not limited to leading roles, as he has proven already in Red Eye and Batman. For me he was awesome in:

1. Breakfast on Pluto- Neil Jordan is perhaps one of the best directors we have. Murphy was so good in this film, you can't forget him.

2. On the Edge- buy the DVD! buy it! buy it! someone at amazon said:

There's a moment early on in John Carney's "On The Edge" that serves to self-assuredly define itself as the alternative to the tired, Hollywoodized coming-of-age genre. In a scene between Jonathan (Cillian Murphy) and his psychologist (Stephen Rea), a chidingly defiant Murphy declares there won't be any "Good Will Hunting" moments between doctor and patient. True to his word as the movie is true to its central point about the fragility and the value of life, there aren't any. And the result is quite simply a breath of fresh air.

3. 28 days later. Cillian rocks!

Youtube video interview
written by Admin, July 12, 2007

Hey Lukas, I added the youtube video you posted, it seems the code at our comment system has difficulty reading the youtube embed code, anyway, to all, enjoy the video!

thanks man!

Cillian List
written by Admin, July 13, 2007

I agree with your list, I'm posting mine too, great way to start the conversation here!

1. 28 Days Later- maybe because its the first movie I watched featuring Cillian, so I'm quite happy with this Danny Boyle film at the top. He was amazing, the action scenes and the whole story is one of the best for this genre.

2. Breakfast on Pluto- definitely a collectible item. Its one of the first DVDs I got from amazon! :grin

3. Disco Pigs- Cillian was intense, really intense! You need to watch this one too!

Disco Pigs!
written by Admin, July 13, 2007

I find the film quite disturbing, and it lingers even after I left the moviehouse. It has a very strong message...not for everyone, especially those who are squeemish, and only like to see happy endings..and such, here's a summary from wiki:

The film/ play revolves around the intense relationship of the two teenage protagonists, Darin and Sinead; nicknamed "Pig" (Cillian Murpy) and "Runt" (Elaine Cassidy). Pig and Runt were born at the same hospital at nearly the same time and grow up right next door to each other. This brings about a very close relationship between the two that borders on telepathic. The two talk in their own idiosyncratic "language." The two characters live in their own separate world and barely communciate with the world around them.However up until their seventeenth year, their relationship remains one of friendship, albeit a very intense unhealthy one.

Eventually however, Runt catches and reciprocates the attentions of another young man from her school just as Pig begins to notice Runt. As their seventeenth birthdays draws closer Pig's violent nature becomes more and more obvious and his romantic intentions towards Runt becomes confirmed when he kisses her after a rampage at a disco. Runt however does not want to give Pig what he wants of her. However she doesn't know how to reject him therefore continues her friendship with him feeling awkward and caged. Pig remains very protective of Runt and finally their closeness raises the concerns of the the school they attend. They are separated and Runt is sent away to boarding school. Pig is crushed by this and decides to track down Runt and make her his again. This starts off a irreversible chain of events that will ultimately end in tragedy.

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