Cillian Murphy Doesn’t Watch His Own Films
Reflecting on his professional life and how he really feels about his approach, Cillian Murphy opened up to GQ for the magazine’s March cover issue. The Peaky Blinders alum admits that while he has 61 acting credits, he hasn’t seen most of his films. The Irish actor noted that Johnny Depp claims that he doesn’t see his own films either. But in Murphy’s case, “It’s actually true.” The films Murphy usually avoids watching are the ones he hears “are not good.” During his interview, Murphy mentioned his 2005 film, starring alongside Rachel McAdams, Red Eye. The Wes Craven psychological thriller centers around McAdams’ character sitting next to Murphy’s character on a plane, who ends up being a terrorist.
Murphy says the film is “a good B movie,” and he recognizes the film has become somewhat of a cult classic. He attributes its longevity to the “duality” of it, adding that’s why he wanted to play the role of “the nice guy and bag guy in one.” He recalls the only reason the character appealed to him was so that he could make that switch. He had nothing bad to say about his co-star either, saying the two had fun making it and that he loved her. In a previous interview with Uproxx in 2021, Murphy’s feelings about watching his previous work were much harsher. “I hated watching myself,” he said. “I hated looking at myself on screen.” The Oppenheimer star admitted he used to harshly judge his work and has become less hypercritical. However, it all stemmed from Red Eye.
How Cillian Kills It
Elsewhere in the cover feature, Cillian says his approach to playing a character is pretty lax. He describes his “research” as an actor to “just f—ing living” a normal life and observing and being a part of the “lovely flow of humanity.” As for the types of roles he is attracted to, he loves making an audience “feel a little bit f—ed-up.” Not in a horror way, he clarifies, but in a psychological, existential way. He personally enjoys watching that type of work, so he strives to make his work evoke that.
In the final stages of the Oppenheimer press tour, the actor admits that he’d rather let the movies do the heavy promotional lifting. He calls the press tours “a broken model.” When the SAG-AFTRA strike began just ahead of Oppenheimer’s opening weekend, he was somewhat relieved for the break. “Everybody is so bored,” he adds. Recalling the success of Peaky Blinders with no advertising for the first three seasons, Murphy pointed out that the “tiny” show “caught fire because people talked to each other about it.” Quoting the mantra by legendary Joanne Woodward: “Acting is like sex—do it, don’t talk about it.” He loves talking about the art and work that goes into acting but finds interviews both unnecessary and unhelpful.
2024 Oscar Nominations
