Film: He may have drifted into acting, but now Cillian Murphy's career on stage and screen is powering full steam ahead. Here, Andrew Burnet talks to the Cork actor ahead of the release of his latest film, Intermission.

Times have changed for Cillian Murphy. The Irish actor first burst into Scottish consciousness at the Edinburgh Fringe of 1997. He was half the cast of Disco Pigs, a breakneck coming-of-age tale about a pair of Cork tearaways whose hermetically close friendship crumbles when romance intrudes. At the time, he was a fresh-faced 21-year-old whose cherubic features, electric blue eyes and dazzling silver suit offset the play's kamikaze violence (and ruthlessly fibrillated the hearts of female audience members). Six years later, he was back in Edinburgh, this time at the International Festival. His suicidal Kostya in Peter Stein's starry production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull provided ballast to his compatriot Fiona Shaw's flighty portrayal of his mother.
Now the sombre performance in Chekov (sic) and the revved-up craze of Disco Pigs seem far-removed from his laid-back presence. "Disco Pigs was a hit show and we partied and had a brilliant time. Back then I was a youngster and everything was fantastic," he drawls in his hoarse Cork accent. "Whereas Seagull was a little more sophisticated, more canapés and wine … I'm only being facetious; there was very little difference."
He hasn't changed much. At 27, his face looks more lived-in, but his eyes are still vibrant blue between long lashes. Murphy is no longer a law-school drop-out who drifted into acting; now he's a respected actor on the brink of a major film career. He appeared in a number of Irish films in the late 1990s; and in 2001 co-starred in Kirsten (daughter of Jim) Sheridan's film of Disco Pigs, though it lacked the intensity of the original staging.
The real breakthrough came last year, when he took the lead role in Danny Boyle's zombie flick 28 Days Later... Released in the U.S. this summer, it took more than $45 million. "It shows that Americans are a lot smarter than we give them credit for," he says, adding that he's game for breaking into their film industry.
"I think it's a natural progression. I've done a lot of Irish films and I am of the belief that an actor should not be limited by his extraction. For all the tosh that Hollywood makes they still make some fantastic pictures and I'd love to be in some of them.
"I wouldn't f***ing (sic) live there. Not a hope. But I'd certainly go over and work there, if they'll have me."
The way Murphy tells it, 28 Days Later... hasn't opened too many doors so far. "Everybody wants to take your picture and interview you," he chuckles wryly. "I'm still fascinated that it's the performance of a film rather than your performance in the film that makes you more bankable."
He probably just needs to bide his time. If Hollywood gossip is to be believed, Murphy was short-listed for the title role in Christopher Nolan's forthcoming Batman movie. The part went to Christian Bale, but Murphy has a couple more calling cards in the can.
First up, later this month, is Intermission, an ensemble Irish drama featuring Colin Farrell, Colm Meaney, and the Scottish actresses Shirley Henderson and Kelly Macdonald. The script by Mark O'Rowe weaves a network of working-class Dubliners into a tale of petty crime, dead-end jobs, and relationship strife. It begins with a bang and sustains a relentless pace throughout.
"It doesn't really let up," says Murphy. "And the dialogue was like music. All you had to do was say it in a reasonably believable way and it was there. You didn't have to embellish it. And there was humour and it investigated some emotions."
All the male characters exhibit some form of wayward machismo, but it's Murphy's supermarket worker who gives the film its title. Unable to express his feelings to his girlfriend Deirdre (Kelly Macdonald) he has declared an "intermission" in their relationship, only to stew in jealousy when she meets another man.
"He's very symptomatic of an Irish male who's unable to deal with what is going on with his heart and has to go on the most convoluted, obtuse way to try and resolve it," Murphy says. "It comes from this thing of men not being able to say what they're feeling and just thinking about it so much and then acting on it in a really misjudged manner. And I'm sure I've done that many a time. You know—trying to fix something that's not broken. I'm sure I've fallen foul of that."
Like much of the cast, Murphy and Farrell have known each other for years. But Murphy insists Farrell's rapid ascent to stardom—which recently landed him the title role in Oliver Stone's epic Alexander—has not changed him.
"Not in the slightest, no. He's fundamentally a good actor and nobody gets to that level that quickly without talent." And on Farrell's reputation as a hellraiser, Murphy bristles protectively. "All the kind of extra-curricular stuff … you can decide whether you think it informs you about him as a person, but he was always a good actor."
Murphy has no reason to feel fazed when rubbing shoulders with Hollywood hotshots. Girl With a Pearl Earring, released in January, finds him co-starring with Colin Firth as the artist Vermeer and Scarlett Johansson ("a seriously good actor") as his model. And Murphy recently finished filming Red Light Runners in London, with Harvey Keitel and Michael Madsen.
A bright future looks certain, but there is still one thorn in his side. Despite playing guitar for years—including a spell with a band called Sons of Mr. Greengenes—it seems he'll never be the next Hendrix. "Yeah," he sighs, "that was what I wanted to do. But it's difficult to make a career in such a horrible, cut-throat industry, where the mediocre rise to the top very quickly. I think a lot of actors are frustrated rock stars …"