Summary
- Cillian Murphy's performances in the acting industry exemplifies his range as an actor
Christopher Nolan’s telling of the events of World War II is yet another addition to the list of thrilling films he has made. With Oppenheimer, he features a host of actors and actresses who are both incredibly successful in the movie industry. Among this fine selection, Cillian Murphy takes on the lead role, playing the eponymous Julius Robert Oppenheimer.
Starting his professional acting career in 1996, the Irish actor has featured in several notable films and played memorable character roles that left an impact on viewers. The recently released Oppenheimer further attests to Cillian Murphy's stellar acting career. With several roles in films covering several genres, Cillian Murphy’s filmography is as impressive as they come. In this light, here are the best Cillian Murphy roles in the movie industry.
10 Tom Buckley – Red Lights (2012)
Margaret Matheson and her assistant Tom Buckley are the subjects of the supernatural thriller Red Lights, written and directed by Rodrigo Cortés. Even though their job is to look into purported paranormal activities, Margaret Matheson explicitly declares, early in the movie, that she has never seen any such miracle.
Cillian Murphy plays Tom Buckley, working with Margaret Matheson as they expose these paranormal activities. When a retired psychic, Simon Silver, returns from nowhere, events take an unexpected turn, and Tom Buckley becomes obsessed with exposing Simon Silver’s activities, which are shrouded in a terrifying mystery.
9 Shivering Soldier – Dunkirk (2017)
Cillian Murphy and Christopher Nolan meet in this war epic, with Cillian Murphy playing a nameless character only referred to as the ‘Shivering Soldier.’ The film portrays the events of war, especially the mental and emotional impact.
With his character, ‘Shivering Soldier,’ Cillian Murphy displayed the lengths he’ll go to ensure he does justice to a role, especially one requiring a lot of sensitivity, considering that the story was based on actual war events. He played alongside an exciting cast, including Fionn Whitehead, Kenneth Branagh, and other actors.
8 Jim – 28 Days Later (2002)
On the note of Cillian Murphy’s versatility as an actor, 28 Days Later is a movie where he ventured into the horror genre, playing a character dealing with a world now suffering from a zombie infestation.
Jim, the protagonist Cillian Murphy plays, wakes up from a coma twenty-eight days after the virus called, ‘Rage’ turned the world upside down. In this chaotic world, Jim joins some other survivors and has to undergo a substantial mental transition if he is going to survive the zombies and the entire bleak situation.
7 Dr. Jonathan Crane (Scarecrow) – Batman Begins (2005)
Dr. Jonathan Crane is one of Cillian Murphy’s most memorable roles. He played alongside Christian Bale in the Dark Knight Trilogy, taking on the role of a villain. As expected, his performance as the enigmatic psychiatrist didn’t disappoint viewers as he executed his role masterfully.
Though he originally auditioned to play Batman, Christopher Nolan eventually chose him to play the antagonistic psychiatrist. Terrorizing victims with his fear gas and burlap mask, Cillian Murphy’s take on the comic book-inspired antagonist further displayed his range. Taking on comic book characters can be a lot of pressure due to the existing fanbase, but Murphy’s performance of the role was ideal.
6 Matthew Joy – In The Heart Of The Sea (2015)
Yet another movie based on actual events, In the Heart of the Sea, takes its story from the similarly titled non-fiction book by Nathaniel Philbrick. The film tells the story of an event in 1820 when the American whaling ship Essex sank.
Chris Hemsworth plays the lead role, while Cillian Murphy plays Matthew Joy, a crew member aboard the Essex. In classic survival story fashion, it all goes downhill after the crew encounters the sperm whale. Matthew Joy’s story is sad to watch because of the events and the emotional effect of Cillian Murphy’s portrayal of him.
5 Patrick Braden (Kitten) – Breakfast on Pluto (2005)
In Breakfast on Pluto, Cillian Murphy goes far beyond anything he’s done prior by playing a transgender woman. With his sensitive and curious take on the role, Murphy presents a version of Kitten Braden that is believable and impactful.
Inspired by the 1998 novel by Patrick McCabe, Kitten's whole purpose is to find a mother who left years ago. The role was challenging physically and mentally, but Murphy proved to be capable, playing alongside actors like Liam Neeson, Stephen Rea, Brendan Gleeson, and even the writer of the original novel.
4 Robert Capa - Sunshine (2007)
Like 28 Days Later, Cillian Murphy worked with director Danny Boyle on this 2007 science fiction blockbuster. Though it was Murphy’s first foray into the world of science fiction, which created some challenges, his performance wasn’t lacking at all.
Playing Robert Capa, one of the astronauts trying to save a dying sun, Murphy’s performance deepened the story’s impact. Per Danny Boyle’s wishes, Murphy and the rest of the cast did a bit of method acting, living together to intensify their performance individually and as a cast.
3 Damien O'Donovan – The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)
Another war story, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, follows characters through the time of the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. At the film’s start, Damien O'Donovan, the doctor played by Murphy, is leaving County Cork to practice in London.
However, a series of violent acts committed by the British Army against his Irish people forced him to stay and fight for his country’s independence. The emotional landscape surrounding war isn’t easy to navigate. Still, Murphy shows his skill at handling sensitive material and delivering his roles with an emotional depth that feels true even to those with closer connections to the actual war events.
2 Robert Fischer – Inception (2010)
As a landmark film of the science fiction genre, Inception’s relevance has endured since its release in 2010. Once again, Cillian Murphy worked with the cream of the crop of actors and the director Christopher Nolan.
Played by Murphy, Robert Fischer’s mind gets invaded by thieves led by Cobb, an ‘extractor’ played by Leonardo DiCaprio. In classic Christopher Nolan fashion, the film leaned heavily on naturally created visuals instead of Computer Generated Imagery. But even with the mindblowing visuals, Murphy’s performance as Robert Fischer stood out as some of his best work.
1 J. Robert Oppenheimer – Oppenheimer (2023)
Oppenheimer, written and directed by the prodigious filmmaker Christopher Nolan, follows Robert Oppenheimer as he collaborates with a team of scientists to construct the atomic bomb. The Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin Pulitzer-winning biography, American Prometheus, inspired the film.
In October 2021, Cillian Murphy accepted to play the ‘father of the atomic bomb’ and worked alongside the star-studded cast featuring Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, and others to deliver the sort of thrilling masterpiece that Christopher Nolan is known for.