Cillian Murphy Height, Weight, Age, Spouse, Family, Facts, Biography

Publish date: 2024-05-22
Cillian Murphy Quick Info
Height5 ft 9 in
Weight70 kg
Date of BirthMay 25, 1976
Zodiac SignGemini
Eye ColorBlue

Cillian Murphy is an Irish actor who started his performing career as the lead singer, pianist, and songwriter of a rock band named The Sons of Mr. Green Genes but later turned down a record deal in the late 1990s in order to pursue a career in acting. He is known for playing Thomas Shelby in the period crime drama series Peaky Blinders, Jim in the post-apocalyptic horror drama film 28 Days Later, Jackson Rippner in the psychological thriller film Red Eye, Darren/Pig in Disco Pigs, Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow in The Dark Knight Trilogy, Jozef Gabčík in the war film Anthropoid, Robert Capa in the sci-fi psychological thriller film Sunshine, Emmett in the horror film A Quiet Place Part II, Patrick “Kitten” Braden in the comedy-drama film Breakfast on Pluto, Shivering Soldier in the war film Dunkirk, Damien O’Donovan in the war drama film The Wind That Shakes the Barley, Matthew Joy in the historical adventure-drama film In the Heart of the Sea, Robert Fischer in the sci-fi action film Inception, and John in the black comedy crime film Intermission. Moreover, Cillian Murphy is also a notable stage actor and won the Irish Times Theatre Award for “Best Actor” and Drama Desk Award for “Outstanding Solo Performance” for the one-man play Misterman in 2011. He was ranked number #12 on The Irish Times‘ list of greatest Irish film actors in 2020.

Born Name

Cillian Murphy (pronounced Kill-ian)

Nick Name

Cilly

Sun Sign

Gemini

Born Place

Douglas, County Cork, Ireland

Residence 

Nationality

Irish

Education

Cillian studied at an all-boys private Catholic school called Presentation Brothers College in Cork, Ireland.

In 1996, Murphy enrolled in University College Cork (UCC) to study law but, he dropped out later.

Occupation

Actor, Former Musician

Family

Manager

Cillian has been repped by these agencies –

Genre

Jazz-Rock

Instruments

Guitar, Vocals

Labels

Acid Jazz Records (Backed out from signing the 5 album record deal and got involved in the theater instead)

Net Worth

According to CelebrityNetWorth.com, his net worth was $20 Million in 2020.

Build

Slim

Height

5 ft 9 in or 175 cm

Weight

70 kg or 154 lbs

Girlfriend / Spouse

Cillian Murphy has dated –

  • Yvonne McGuinness (1996–Present) – Cillian’s wife, Yvonne who is four years older than him, is a visual artist by profession. He first met her in 1996 when she joined the entire team of Corcadorca Theatre Company during the world tour of their in-house production, Disco Pigs. He dated Yvonne for many years and married her in August 2004. They settled in North-West London but just a year or so, prior to Cillian’s 40th birthday, he permanently moved to Ireland so his kids could live closer to their grandparents and get better acquainted with Irish culture. The couple has two sons together: Malachy (b. December 2005) and Carrick aka Aran (b. July 2007).
  • Race / Ethnicity

    White

    He has Irish ancestry.

    Hair Color

    Dark Brown

    Eye Color

    Blue

    Sexual Orientation

    Straight

    Distinctive Features

    Measurements

    His body specifications might be –

    Shoe Size

    He is speculated to be wearing a shoe of size 10 (US) or 9 (UK) or 43 (EU).

    Brand Endorsements

    Cillian narrated an ad for the Dublin-based brewery, Guinness in 2014.

    Gave voice to another ad for Guinness Blonde American Lager in 2015.

    Religion

    Murphy was raised Roman Catholic.

    Initially agnostic, became a self-proclaimed atheist after researching his role for Sunshine (2007).

    Best Known For

    As a Singer

    First Film

    He was an extra named Pat, the barman, with four lines to speak in the Irish film The Tale of Sweety Barrett (1998). This was his first feature film.

    However, his first film was the short film Quando in 1997.

    First TV Show

    Played the character of Paul Montague in the four-part TV series broadcast on BBC network, The Way We Live Now (2001).

    Personal Trainer

    Cillian naturally has a very slim physical frame because he was never fond of sports while growing up. He is an avid outdoor runner and that is the most, he does happily for exercise. Moreover, he was a vegetarian for 15 years of his adult life because he was paranoid about getting mad cow disease.

    The lead role in Peaky Blinders, which is a strong and complex character, excited Cillian enough to make changes in his long-term lifestyle habits. He joined a gym and started strength training mostly on machines under the guidance of a trainer to gain some muscle. Since his trainer suggested that he would benefit from adding meat to his daily diet, Cillian finally reverted to consuming animal meat in 2013. He broke his abstinence from meat consumption by having Venison steak that he immediately felt his body was thankful for.

    He has professed an interest in aging gracefully. Hence, ever since Cillian turned 40, he grew mindful of damaging habits. He ensures an early bedtime on most days. Only smokes herbal cigarettes if a role demands to smoke on-screen and although he has starved himself to make his thin frame even thinner for a role In the Heart of the Sea (2015), he promised himself not to repeat that again.

    Cillian Murphy Favorite Things

    Source – Mr. Porter, Archive.org, UK.Complex.com, Esquire, NME, The Guardian, The Line of Best Fit, Rotten Tomatoes, Timeout, CNTraveller

    Cillian Murphy Facts

  • He started composing songs at the age of 10 and becoming a rock star was his first aspiration.
  • While in college, he formed a band along with his younger brother, Paidi called The Sons of Mr. Greengenes. The name was inspired by Frank Zappa.
  • Cillian backed out from a record deal offered by Acid Jazz records because his younger brother was merely 16 at that time and his parents did not grant permission to turn professional. This motivated Cillian to try his hand at a professional theater.
  • He has a varied and eclectic taste in music. He loves to explore the depth and craft of established as well as upcoming musicians alike by observing the emotional effect of their work.
  • A Clockwork Orange, a play enacted in a famous nightclub called Sir Henry’s in his hometown was the first work of art to have a major impact on his sensibilities which made him pursue Pat Kiernan for his first role.
  • Academically, he did well in school since most of his relatives were teachers or educators in some capacity.
  • While in college, Cillian acquired a role in the play Disco Pigs in which he did so well (for 18 months internationally) that he got the representation of an agent and it kickstarted his acting career.
  • While filming the first 3 seasons of Peaky Blinders alone, he smoked more than 3,000 herbal cigarettes according to the props department.
  • The role of Thomas Shelby in Peaky Blinders is Cillian’s strongest role so far. He admits that neither is he physically strong or aggressive enough to get into a physical fight in real life.
  • In Christopher Nolan directed action movies, he played only intellectual roles and had no action sequences because he predominantly gets excited by a good script with a great story and not by how he is projected on-screen.
  • He dislikes Karaoke as a medium to enjoy music.
  • He has also played a transgender in Breakfast on Pluto (2005), cast alongside Liam Neeson.
  • He dislikes biopics based on musicians since he thinks listening to the records of celebrated musicians is the only way to gain an insight into their personality rather than watching a movie on their life.
  • He is world-famous for his striking blue eyes.
  • Cillian disliked the close-cropped haircut which he had to get every year to play Thomas Shelby. He prefers to keep his locks long.
  • One of his hidden talents is the ability to twist his fingers in alarming ways. He can swiftly roll a coin through his fingers and often uses that trick to amuse his sons.
  • He auditioned for Christian Bale’s role in Batman Begins (2005). Though not convincing as Bruce Wayne, nevertheless, Christopher Nolan was so impressed by his acting prowess that he repeatedly cast him in many of his directorial ventures.
  • Uncomfortable with fame and red carpet appearances, Cillian’s priority is to excel at his craft. One of the reasons he maintains a low profile is to prevent his real-life persona from outshining the characters he plays on-screen.
  • All his close friends are non-actors but among the acting clan, he is close to Colin Farrell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and looks up to Liam Neeson.
  • Twilight author Stephenie Meyer originally wanted Cillian to play James instead of Cam Gigandet in the movie.
  • He hires no stylist or publicist and particularly avoids having a presence on the Internet through a website, fansite, or a social media account. Hence, he is not on social media.
  • ncG1vNJzZmiglZa5tbTYnJylnZJjsLC5jpygpaSZlrtuudSrp6GxXw%3D%3D